Asia-Pacific markets rise as Japan's inflation data reaches highest since 1981

The number of Chinese travelers into Singapore will not reach pre-pandemic levels in 2023 despite China's reopening and a surge of travel happening in the region, said Keith Tan, CEO of Singapore Tourism Board.

"We don't expect the Chinese visitors and the Chinese volumes to return to pre-Covid levels this year," Tan told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday.

"It's not just Singapore .... It's also the airlines in China, and the airports in China, and whether they are ready to resume large numbers of international flights as well," he added.

Still, Singapore's hospitality and luxury goods sector will benefit from Chinese travelers who can afford the higher prices on airfares and hotels, Tan said. The city-state's conference industry is also expected to benefit from China's reopening as more business travelers will come down for events and conferences.

Tan also highlighted that Singapore expects to see a full recovery across all markets by sometime in 2024.

— Charmaine Jacob

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams emphasized there is more to be done in terms of monetary policy to bring inflation down to the central bank's target.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Williams was quoted as saying, "It is clear that monetary policy still has more work to do to bring inflation down to our 2% goal on a sustained basis," according to Reuters.

"Restoring price stability is essential to achieving maximum employment and stable prices over the longer term, and it is critical that we stay the course until the job is done," he was quoted as saying.

The Federal Reserve's two-day meeting concludes on Feb. 1, with markets having priced in a 97.2% chance of a 25-basis point hike, according to CME Group data, bringing the interest rate to a targeted range of 4.5%-4.75%.

— Jihye Lee

Bitcoin fell roughly 0.5% after Crypto firm Genesis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York.

The company listed 50-99 creditors in a "mega" bankruptcy filing, with aggregate liabilities ranging from $1.2 to $11 billion dollars, according to bankruptcy documents.

Genesis is in negotiations with creditors represented by law firms Kirkland & Ellis and Proskauer Rose, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC. The bankruptcy puts Genesis alongside other fallen crypto exchanges including BlockFi, FTX, Celsius, and Voyager.

The cryptocurrency last traded at $21,054.

— Rohan Goswami, MacKenzie Sigalos, Jihye Lee

The People's Bank of China left the loan prime rates for 1-year and 5-year unchanged, widely in line with expectations.

The 1-year LPR stayed at 3.65% while the 5-year LPR remained at 4.3%, both unchanged since August, 2022.

The offshore and onshore Chinese yuan was flat and last stood at 6.7679 and 6.7738 against the U.S. dollar.

— Jihye Lee

Japan's core inflation rose to 4% in December last year on an annualized basis, the highest since December, 1981 and in line with expectations.

The reading climbed from the inflation print of 3.7% seen in November.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2% in December, remaining flat from the previous month.

The Japanese yen traded 0.16% weaker against the U.S. dollar to stand at 128.63.

— Jihye Lee

Bitcoin traded higher as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called the cryptocurrency a "hyped-up fraud," in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Bitcoin rose 1.5% in the past 24 hours to last trade at $21,127 while Ethereum gained 1.81% to $1,556.72, according to CoinMetrics.

— Jihye Lee, Jesse Pound

There were about 190,000 initial claims for unemployment in the U.S. for the week ending on Jan. 14, which is smaller than expected and underscores the continued resiliency of the labor market.

That's below the 215,000 initial claims expected for the week by analysts polled by Dow Jones. It also marks a decrease from the prior week's 205,000 claims.

Market participants have watched labor data for signs of the job market cooling. Labor is an area of the economy that has stayed robust even as other areas showed contraction following the Federal Reserve's series of interest rate hikes.

— Alex Harring

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said Thursday she expects interest rates to remain high despite recent signs that inflation is weakening.

In a speech delivered at the Chicago Booth School of Business, the central bank official vowed to "stay the course" until inflation shows more signs that it's moving closer to the Fed's 2% goal.

""Even with the recent moderation, inflation remains high, and policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive for some time to make sure inflation returns to 2% on a sustained basis," she said.

—Jeff Cox

The U.S. dollar has been sliding in recent months and that's good news for commodities, said Steven Glass of Pella Funds Management.

He's especially bullish on copper, naming three stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said Thursday that she thinks the central bank can enact smaller interest rate hikes after a series of aggressive moves last year.

"More measured rate adjustments in the current phase will better enable us to address the competing risks monetary policy now faces – the risk that our actions may be insufficient to restore price stability, versus the risk that our actions may cause unnecessary losses in real activity and employment," she said in prepared remarks.

Collins did not specify where she thinks policy should head next. But the Fed at its December meeting approved a 0.5 percentage point increase after four straight 0.75-point moves.

While most economists expect at least a mild recession this year, Collins said he is "reasonably optimistic that there is a pathway to reducing inflation without a significant economic downturn."

—Jeff Cox

Wall Street is bullish about China's reopening. But Morgan Stanley is going even further: It's predicting that Chinese stocks will beat global markets this year.

The investment bank named its top stock picks, including one tech giant it gives around 30% upside potential.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Zavier Ong