Asia markets rise as private survey shows sharp recovery in China services

Nikkei will shuffle the components of its Nikkei 225 index, it said in a release.

The Nikkei 225 will add Oriental Land, Renesas Electronics, Japan Airlines to the index due to high liquidity and remove Toyobo, Nippon Light Metal, and Toho Zinc, citing low liquidity.

The changes will take into effect April 3, Nikkei said.

— Jihye Lee

Chinese internet company Bilibili still has a long path to profitability, according to an analyst.

"A monetization issue and net loss are concerns for investors. There's a long way for them to reach breakeven point," said Shawn Yang, managing director of Blue Lotus Capital Advisors, on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday.

His comments come as the company posted narrower net losses in the fourth quarter and full year of 2022 on Thursday.

"China's video sector is a highly competitive segment. Bilibili needs to spend a lot in terms of content building," said Yang.

He said that while the company has always been very good in introducing more good content and attracting more users, the competitive landscape presents a challenge in monetizing their paid users. "If you look at the paying user, the quarter-on-quarter trend is already flat," added Yang.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Bilibili rose 9.67% in Friday's trading.

— Sheila Chiang

India's S&P manufacturing purchasing managers index for February came in at 55.3, a survey showed.

While this is slightly lower than the 55.4 recorded in January, the figure was above its long-run average of 53.7, the release said.

S&P Global said the latest reading signals "a strong improvement in the health of the sector," adding that India's manufacturing industry sustained a robust growth of output and new orders.

The report also notes that the country's domestic market was the main source of new business growth, as new orders from abroad increased only fractionally.

The Indian rupee strengthened marginally against the U.S. dollar on Friday to trade at 82.3.

— Lim Hui Jie

Goldman Sachs has named eight global stocks of companies that will become profitable this year and beat the broader market in a new research report.

The investment bank found that companies that transition from unprofitable to profitable during a market recovery typically outperform the broader market.

According to Goldman, this phenomenon was observed in 2001 and 2008, with outperformance above 50% in each instance.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

China's service sector activity expanded at the fastest rate in six months, as its services purchasing managers index for February rose to 55, sharply higher than the 52.9 recorded in January.

In its report, Caixin said this was also faster than the series average of 53.7. The 50-point mark separates expansion and contraction in activity on a monthly basis.

The upturn, Caixin reported, was supported by the strongest rise in new business since April 2021 as the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions helped to lift customer numbers and demand.

New export order growth also accelerated, hitting the highest in almost four years.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan's services sector in February expanded at its fastest rate since June 2022, a private survey from au Jibun bank showed.

The country's services purchasing managers index came in at 54, higher than the 52.3 in January. A reading above 50 signals expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction for the sector.

In its report, the bank noted that Japanese service providers indicated that business activity rose sharply midway through the first quarter of 2023.

Activity increased at the fastest pace in eight months, "amid a notably stronger rise in new business inflows," the report said.

— Lim Hui Jie

The headline S&P Global Singapore purchasing manager's index fell to 49.6 in February, below the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction.

February's print saw a decline from January's reading of 51.2, signaling "renewed deterioration in private sector conditions," S&P said in a release.

It added that purchasing activity shrank in February due to moderation in demand conditions.

"Business sentiment worsened, while caution with respect to hiring and purchasing brought the overall PMI into contraction territory," said Jingyi Pan, economics associate director at S&P Market Intelligence.

"While the latest developments supported the easing of supply issues and lowering of price pressures for businesses, the lack of improvements in the demand picture does not spell good news for the Singapore private sector in the months to come," said Pan.

— Jihye Lee

Tokyo's consumer price index rose by 3.3% in February, in line with economists expectations polled by Reuters, and a lower print than January's 4.3% government data showed.

Overall, CPI for the capital city reached 3.4%, a cooler print from the 4.4% seen last month, while prices excluding food and energy for Tokyo rose by 1.8%, also a slower pace than 1.7% from January.

The Japanese yen slightly weakened to 136.7 against the U.S. dollar.

— Jihye Lee

China's reopening from the pandemic has been a big theme in 2023. But the recent pullback in Chinese stocks is an opportunity for investors to snap up opportunities, according to Bernstein analyst Rupal Agarwal.

While A-shares and H-shares are both avenues for investors to gain exposure to the China reopening theme, Agarwal said she believes one is the better option.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Zavier Ong

Japan's unemployment rate for January came in at 2.4%, 0.1% lower compared to December and slightly below economists' expectations of 2.5%

This is the lowest unemployment rate since February 2020, according to Refinitiv data.

Japan's jobs to applicants ratio also stood at 1.35, down from 1.36% in December.

— Lim Hui Jie

Now that the 10-year Treasury yield has broken above the 4% psychological barrier, it should continue to move higher, according to Credit Suisse.

"This should open up a deeper rise within what we now expect to be an even broader range. Next supports are seen at 4.11%, then the 4.325% October high," analyst David Sneddon wrote in a note Thursday.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year was last up nearly 8 basis points to 4.073%.

—Michelle Fox

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said he thinks the central bank can stick with quarter-point interest rate hikes.

"I am still very much of a mindset that slow and steady is going to be the appropriate course of action," Bostic told media members. He added that he favors rate hikes of 0.25 percentage point, a step down the Fed took at its meeting a month ago.

"Right now I'm still in very firmly in the quarter point move pacing," he added.

Some other Fed officials have said they are open to hiking by half a point when they meet later this month. Market pricing currently points to that move, though the probability for a half-point increase has risen in recent days.

—Jeff Cox

Artificial intelligence has taken Wall Street by storm since since ChatGPT was launched and went viral — causing a surge in interest among investors in what stocks could benefit from the trend.

But there's another way to get into the AI buzz that's happening right now, according to tech investor Mark Hawtin, who names one stock to play it.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

The S&P 500 has been flirting with its 200-day moving average, and a drop below that level could signal more selling.

The 200-day was at about 3,940 Thursday, and the index fell below that level but recovered Wednesday. The S&P 500 was trading near that level Thursday morning.

The 200-day is literally the average of the last 200 closing prices, and it is viewed as a momentum indicator for a stock or index. Stock chart analysts would view it as a negative signal if the index were to close below that level and stay below it.

—Patti Domm

Credit-default swap (CDS) trading on U.S. Treasury bonds has picked up since January, with implied default probabilities increasing "to levels not seen since the 2013 debt-ceiling debate," MSCI researchers Andras Rokob and Andy Sparks wrote in a blog post Thursday.

CDS spreads have widened out in 2023, echoing similar moves in both 2011 and 2013, during two other episodes that saw battles between Congress and the White House over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, the researchers wrote.

"Assuming a 95% recovery, the CDS market's one-year implied default probability was 11.3%, as of Feb. 24, up significantly from the 3.3% probability prevailing at the beginning of the year," MSCI said. "The consequences of a potential default by the U.S. government extend beyond the immediate impact on holders of Treasurys," Rokob and Sparks warned. "Major market dislocation and a sharp slowdown in economic activity could both be realistic possibilities."

— Scott Schnipper; CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report