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Asia-Pacific markets mostly lower as second day of G-20 is underway

Abigail Ng

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet on sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mostly lower on Wednesday as world leaders gathered in Bali, Indonesia for a second day of the Group of 20 summit. Polish authorities said a Russian-made missile killed two citizens, which president Andrzej Duda described as "an isolated incident," adding an investigation is underway.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan reversed earlier losses to close 0.14% higher at 28,028.30 as heavyweight SoftBank Group climbed 2.94%. The Topix was fractionally lower at 1,963.29. South Korea's Kospi was 0.12% lower at 2,477.45, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.27% to 7,122.20.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 1.04% lower in the final hour of trade, and the Hang Seng Tech index fell 1.82%. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite was 0.45% lower at 3,119.98 and the Shenzhen Component slipped 1.02% to 11,235.56. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.67%.


Indonesia's central bank starts its two-day meeting, in which economists expect the benchmark interest rate to be raised by 50 basis points to 5.25%.

Overnight in the U.S., stocks gained after a measure of wholesale inflation signaled that the pressure may be easing.

— CNBC's Ted Kemp, Tanaya Macheel and Carmen Reinicke contributed to this report.

Yellen, PBOC Governor Yi Gang meet on sidelines of G-20 summit

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the governor of the People's Bank of China, Yi Gang, met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Yellen in a tweet said that the two discussed "global macroeconomic and financial challenges, including economic prospects" of U.S. and China.

A separate Reuters report, citing a U.S. official, said Yellen and Yi's meeting lasted two hours, and that the conversation was "in the context of global challenges."

–Jihye Lee

Biden says it's 'unlikely' the missile that killed two people in Poland was fired from Russia

U.S. President Joe Biden said it's "unlikely" a missile that killed two people in Poland was fired from Russia, citing the trajectory of the rocket.

Asked by a reporter if the missile was fired from Russia, Biden said: "There is preliminary information that contests that, I don't want to say that until we completely investigate."

He went on to say: "It's unlikely... in the minds of the trajectory, that it was fired from Russia. But, we'll see."

Biden reiterated that the leaders of the Group of 7 agreed to support an ongoing investigation into the explosion.

"We agreed to support Poland's investigation into the explosion in rural Poland near the Ukrainian border. And I'm going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened," he told reporters on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

–Jihye Lee

Tencent to report earnings, reportedly starting new round of job cuts

Chinese tech giant Tencent is due to report third-quarter earnings late in Asia.

The company is expected to see another drop in revenue after posting the first-ever revenue decline in the previous quarter ending in June. A median forecast from Refinitiv predicts a fall of 0.47% to 141.7 billion Chinese yuan ($20 billion).

Separately, sources told Reuters that Tencent is starting a new round of job cuts. The news comes as tech firms around the world announce layoffs.

Tencent shares rose as much as 3% in early trade, and were last up 0.83%, compared with a 0.81% fall in the broader Hang Seng index.

— Abigail Ng, Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: The Fed 'pivot' is dead, says strategist, who shares where to invest right now

Fidelity says the notion that a pivot from the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance will benefit equities is "dead."

Salman Ahmed, global head of macro and strategic asset allocation at the investment management firm, said he is concerned about short-term stock performance and suggests investor consider a different asset class instead.

Subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

World Bank says Russia is 'wrecking their own future' through Ukraine war

World Bank President David Malpass said Russia is hurting its own future by continuing a war on Ukraine.

"It weakens Russia, it makes them outcasts and it really is wrecking their own future," he said. "I'm hurt by what Russia is doing to itself, to its own people."

When asked about the latest developments of a Russian-made missile killing Polish citizens, Malpass said: "I don't want to speculate about the missiles, but as far as the G-20 [goes], there's been unity, broad unity of G-20 countries against war."

–Jihye Lee

JPMorgan lowers its GDP forecasts for China

JPMorgan downgraded its economic forecasts for China in response to developments including a recent surge in Covid cases and a "notable drag on domestic activity," analysts said in a note.

The investment bank now expects China's GDP growth for 2022 to come in at 2.9%, down from its previous forecast of 3.1%. In 2023, JPMorgan sees China's economy growing 4%, compared with an earlier prediction of 4.5%.

October's retail sales and industrial production data released Tuesday disappointed as global growth slowed and China battled Covid outbreaks.

— Abigail Ng, Michael Bloom

CNBC Pro: These biotech stocks look cheap — and analysts give 2 more than 100% upside

Fundstrat said some biotechnology stocks are worth following and that the sub-sector is currently the strongest within the health industry.

Mark Newton, head of technical strategy at research firm Fundstrat, said the sector is "a key part of the reason why Healthcare likely shows strong 4Q [fourth quarter] outperformance," according to a Nov. 14 note.

To identify biotech stocks that look cheap and are expected to rally looking ahead, CNBC Pro screened the iShares Biotechnology ETF on FactSet. Here are 8:

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Missile that killed 2 in Poland was Russian-made, Polish foreign ministry says

Two people were killed after a Russian-made missile fell inside Poland, the country's foreign ministry said early Wednesday.

The ministry said Russia was carrying out a lengthy attack on Ukrainian infrastructure when the missile struck the village of Przewodów, killing two Polish citizens.

The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau called on the Russian ambassador for "immediate detailed explanations" of the incident.

- Chris Eudaily

CNBC Pro: Analysts think these EV-related stocks in the lithium supply chain could be winners

Goldman Sachs says the peak in battery metal prices is approaching.

Given this outlook, CNBC Pro screened the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF for stocks related to electric vehicle makers that could offer opportunities for investors.

These stocks are expected to post full-year growth in 2023, are buy rated by the majority of analysts covering them, and have average potential upside of at least 20% over the next 12 months.

Here's .

— Zavier Ong

Stocks close higher for the third day in the last four

The major averages rose Tuesday after another report signaled that inflation could be slowing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 56.22 points, or 0.2%, at 33,592.92. The S&P 500 advanced 0.9% to 3,991.73, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5% to close at 11,358.41.

— Tanaya Macheel