Hong Kong stocks lead losses in Asia-Pacific session after Fed signals more hikes ahead

There will be a "real meaningful impact on growth" in Asia if China reopens, including the border between the mainland and Hong Kong, according to the chief executive of Singapore's largest bank DBS, Piyush Gupta.

"China reopening would provide upside to all of Asia," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection" after reporting record profits for the quarter.

"It would be a really nice counterbalance to a slowing U.S. and a slowing Europe," he said.

— Abigail Ng

Refinitiv data showed that the U.S. 2-year Treasury yield briefly surpassed 5.1% during Asia's afternoon session. It last stood at 4.6804%.

The reason for the spike was not immediately clear.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose during U.S. hours after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the terminal rate will still be higher than anticipated – and last stood at 4.1448%.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 4.1908%.

Yields move inversely to prices, and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.

–Jihye Lee

Investors need to "remain cautious" about unverified notes circulating on social media hinting at a potential China reopening early next year, a strategist at Credit Suisse said.

"I think, judging from different angles with a lot of news flows — especially the unverified ones, we need to remain cautious," said Edmond Huang, Credit Suisse's head of China securities research.

Speaking at the firm's China Investment Conference, Huang said it's more likely to be a measured process of reopening than an abrupt one.

"It'll take some time especially after party congress and the formation of the new government — which means it'll be a more gradual process than overnight, with China reopening completely to the rest of the world," he said.

— Jihye Lee

JPMorgan Asset Management expects the Federal Reserve to hike rates by a smaller 50 basis points in December, according to a note.

APAC Chief Market Strategist Tai Hui said the Fed could take a more moderate path in the near future.

"If core inflation does ease between now and the end of the year, the Fed could opt for a more moderate rate path and avoid putting the economy into a recession," he said in the note.

"We do think that there are some easing in inflation on the horizon," he said, adding that the Fed's tightening cycle is expected to extend into the second quarter of 2023.

–Jihye Lee

China's Caixin Services Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 48.4 for October, the the lowest reading since May and the second consecutive contraction for the sector.

In September, the print was 49.3, also below the 50 point mark, indicating a contraction.

Earlier this week, the official non-manufacturing PMI came in at 48.7.

PMI readings are sequential and represent month-on-month expansion or contraction.

— Abigail Ng

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics saw sharp losses in the overall negative session, down 2.42% in the early hours of trade.

Hyundai Motor lost 2.42% and SK Hynix dropped 2.49%, while Naver lost 3.45%.

Bucking the trend, defense stocks, gained after North Korea fired more missiles into the waters between Korea and Japan.

Victek jumped 3.44%, while Korea Aerospace added 1.24%. Hanwha Aerospace was 0.71% higher.

The Kospi was down around 1%.

— Abigail Ng

Only a handful of companies have avoided a cut on their share price target by Wall Street banks this earnings season, a CNBC Pro analysis has revealed.

Of the nearly 300 companies in the S&P 500 that reported results in the past month, more than two-thirds – 72% – have seen their median price targets slashed or left unchanged by analysts compared to a month ago.

Only 13 stocks have emerged with a meaningfully higher price target of 5% or more and still offered a potential upside of at least 5%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Index heavyweights on the S&P/ASX 200 dropped sharply, with BHP and Wesfarmers dropping 3% each.

Shares were in the red across the board, with miners such as Newcrest Mining tumbling 4.14% and Bluescope Steel falling more than 5%.

— Abigail Ng

Stocks closed lower in a volatile trading session as the Federal Reserve delivered another 75 basis point rate hike and hinted at its intentions to continue hiking.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 505.44 points, or 1.55%, to settle at 32,147.76. The S&P 500 dropped 2.5% to close at 3,759.69, while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.36% to finish at 10,524.80.

— Samantha Subin

In a briefing with reporters on Wednesday following a fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate hike, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank's ultimate target for increases in interest rates has gone up.

"We still have some ways to go and incoming data since our last meeting suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected," he said.

Stocks slipped following the comment, which signals that interest rates will continue to march higher and likely stay at a higher level than expected for longer as the Fed tames inflation. That reversed gains from earlier in the afternoon when traders digested the Fed statement as more dovish and hoped that rate hikes would be smaller in the future.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 60 points but pared gains. The S&P 500 also slumped from a post-rate hike spike and was up only 0.09%. The Nasdaq was slightly in the red.

—Carmen Reinicke