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Asia markets rise as Wall Street banks move to shore up banking system

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

A sign is posted on the exterior of a First Republic Bank office on March 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets were higher Friday after major Wall Street banks pledged a deposit of $30 billion in First Republic Bank in an attempt to bolster confidence in the banking system. The group of 11 banks, included Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase.

In mainland China, the Shenzhen Component closed 0.36% higher at 11,278.04, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.73% to end the day at 3,250.54 after China announced president Xi Jinping will be visiting Russia next week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.81% in its final hour of trade, leading gains in the region and the Hang Seng Tech jumped 4.59%. Notably, shares of search engine company Baidu surged over 15%.

South Korea's Kospi was also up 0.75% to end the day at 2,395.79, while the Kosdaq saw a larger gain at 1.97% to finish at 797.39.

Japanese markets were higher with the Nikkei 225 up 1.2% to end at 27,333.79 and the Topix gained 1.15% to finish at 2,392.61.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.42% to close at 6,994.8 with banks seeing minor gains to reverse Thursday's losses.


Overnight in the U.S., stocks rallied in late in the trading day after news of the banking rescue deal, with all three major indexes closing up.

The Nasdaq Composite made the largest gains, advancing 2.48% as investors bought technology stocks on hopes that the crisis could push the Federal Reserve to shift its outlook on monetary policy at its meeting next week.

— CNBC's Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim and Jesse Pound contributed to this report

Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the amount of deposits pledged by banks to First Republic.

Japan's government, central bank to meet on markets turmoil: Nikkei

Officials from the Japanese government and board members of the Bank of Japan are planning to meet on Friday to discuss the latest global financial developments, Nikkei reported.

The meeting is seen as a precautionary step as Japan's financial system has not been directly impacted by Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and Credit Suisse's fallout, Nikkei said.

Nikkei added that it would mark the first meeting since September 2022.

— Jihye Lee

Archer Venture Capital says its portfolio companies could face credit tightening

We're not sure what Silicon Valley Bank's future will be like, says investment firm
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We're not sure what Silicon Valley Bank's future will be like: Investment firm

Archer Venture Capital said its portfolio companies could face tightening of credit after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

"We are at a very scary moment where we are just not sure what the future lines of credit will be for startup companies that we work with," Greg Martin, founder and managing director of Archer Venture Capital, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Friday.

He said that a lot of Archer Venture Capital's portfolio companies have "regular lines of credit term loans, account receivable loans with SVB."

"We are just not sure whether that capital is going to be available," said Martin.

"Overall, there's going to be a general credit tightening because there's a real fear, systemic fear in the economy, whether it's the banking sector or beyond. We're already seeing some tightening of credit," he added.

— Sheila Chiang

Baidu shares climb in Hong Kong, U.S. after releasing ChatGPT rival

Hong Kong-listed shares of Baidu jumped by more than 15% in Asia's afternoon trade after the Chinese tech company revealed Thursday its ChatGPT rival, called Ernie bot in English.

Its U.S.-listed shares closed 3.8% higher in the U.S. after seeing a steep drop of more than 6% in Hong Kong the previous session.

Baidu's Ernie bot primarily operates in Chinese, although the chatbot can also understand English. The company's business partners received priority in initial access to Ernie bot.

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— Evelyn Cheng

Philippine central bank says banking system is 'safe and sound'

​The Philippine banking system remains safe and sound, the nation's central bank said in a statement.

"We have shown our resilience through the pandemic, and we continue to be strong in the face of the ongoing turbulence in the global markets," Banko Sentral Ng Pilipinas, said Friday.

The statement comes days after central bank governor Felipe Medalla told Reuters that Philippine banks have no reported exposure to the failed Silicon Valley Bank.

— Jihye Lee

Former Indian central bank chief says too early to tell if bank rescue has worked

Fed's best option is to hike rates by 25 basis points and watch for a month and a half: Professor
VIDEO2:2202:22
Best option for Fed is to hike rates by 25 basis points: Professor

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan thinks it's still too early to tell whether the U.S. rescue plan to stem bank contagion risks has worked.

"I think what's happened so far, in terms of the rescues, is sort of done the first aid. The question is — is there a slow bleed that is still going on," he told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

"My sense is that we won't know whether the Fed has been successful on this rescue mission until a few weeks have passed and we see no more problems."

Rajan, now a professor of finance at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, noted questions remain around the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

"There are lots of questions to be answered here," he said. "How come a mid-size bank was oblivious of interest rate risk?"

He added regulators need to rebuild confidence in small- and medium-sized banks, and that means "signaling very clearly that the banks with problems have been taken care of and I think we're not there yet."

— Sumathi Bala

Mazda announces new president and CEO

Japanese automaker Mazda announced that Masahiro Moro will be nominated as its new president and CEO.

The nomination will be subject to shareholders approval and approval from the company's board of directors, scheduled to happen in June.

He will be replacing current president and CEO Akira Marumoto, who will step down if approval is obtained for Moro.

Moro, who has been with the company since 1983, currently serves as director and senior managing executive officer, and had previously served as CEO of Mazda's North American operations.

Shares of Mazda were down by 2.06% on Friday, leading losses among major Japanese automakers.

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— Lim Hui Jie

Tech stocks lead Hong Kong index climb; Baidu surges over 10%

The Hang Seng index led gains in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday, driven in part by the surge in tech stocks.

Baidu was up almost 12% after its U.S.-listed shares surged overnight, following the launch of its Chinese-language ChatGPT alternative - named Ernie bot.

Shares of streaming platform company Bilibili also jumped nearly 8% in early trading.

The HSI itself was up 1.21%, while the tech heavy Hang Seng Tech index was 3.13% higher.

— Lim Hui Jie

New Zealand to ban TikTok for devices with access to parliamentary network

New Zealand will ban TikTok for devices with access to the parliamentary network, Reuters reported, citing Parliamentary Service Chief Executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero.

Gonzalez-Montero told Reuters in an email that the decision was made after consultation with experts in cybersecurity and discussions within the government.

The move comes after CNBC confirmed reports of the U.S. asking TikTok's Chinese parent company Bytedance to divest its stake in the app or face a possible ban in the U.S. The United Kingdom also announced plans to ban the video app on government devices.

— Arjun Kharpal, Jihye Lee

Indonesia's central bank keeps interest rates unchanged at 6.5%

Indonesia's central bank has maintained its 7 day reverse repurchase rate at 5.75% and its lending rate at 6.5%.

In a release, the bank explained that the decision is "consistent" with its monetary policy stance to ensure lower inflation expectations and inflation. 

The central bank has a target to return core inflation rate to a ±1% range from 3% in the first half of 2023, and headline inflation to the same range in the second half of the year.

The Indonesian rupiah traded flat against the U.S. dollar at 15,375 on Friday, after the announcement.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Short sellers are doubling down on these European banks — and Credit Suisse isn't their top target

Short-sellers are sitting on nearly $2 billion in profit from bets against the European banking sector this month so far. And, perhaps surprisingly, Credit Suisse wasn't the most profitable short.

Short-sellers profit when a stock falls. They borrow shares to immediately sell them with plans to repurchase them later when the price is lower, making a profit from the difference.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the banking stocks short-sellers are eyeing here.

— Ganesh Rao

Forecasts for Japan's 2023 wage growth lifted past 3%, research shows

The Japan Center for Economic Research said that the consensus forecast for the economy's wage growth in 2023 was raised to 3.05% in March from an expected rise of 2.85% seen in January.

This would mark the strongest growth seen in Japan since 1994, Nikkei reported.

In the research survey, most of the respondents revised their estimates upwards on overall wages and base pay component, the release showed.

Japan's shunto wage negotiations concluded Wednesday, Reuters reported – marking the biggest pay rises not seen in decades as inflation levels rise.

– Jihye Lee

China's home prices rise on monthly basis at fastest pace since July 2021

Home prices in China rose 0.3% in February compared to January, but fell 1.2% compared to a year ago, according to Refinitiv data of 70 cities from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Month-on-month, home prices rose at the fastest pace since July 2021, as investors look ahead to more accommodative policies from the government. In January, prices rose 0.1% on a monthly basis.

Data of 55 cities reported rises in new home prices in February compared to 36 cities reporting a rise in January.

– Jihye Lee

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports continue to fall

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports fell 15.6% in February compared to a year ago – less than expectations to see a drop of 16%. In January, the reading fell 25% on an annualized basis.

Compared to a month ago, non-oil domestic exports fell 8%, further than expectations to see a decline of 0.5%. The monthly reading slightly rose in the previous month by 0.9%.

Non-oil domestic exports for Singapore's top 10 markets as a whole declined in February 2023, based on government data – particularly to the European Union, Hong Kong and Taiwan, while exports to the U.S., Japan and Thailand rose.

– Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Tesla vs BYD: Market pros pick their favorite electric vehicle giant

Tesla has long been an investor favorite for exposure to the electric vehicle transition, but not everyone is convinced. Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD, for example, is often touted as a better bet than Tesla.

Ray Wang of Constellation Research believes Tesla versus BYD is "really going to be a story for the ages."

Pro subscribers can find out which stock is his favorite here.

— Zavier Ong

South Korea says Japan agreed to lift export restrictions on chips materials

South Korea said Japan has agreed to lift export restrictions on three semiconductor materials to Seoul, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.

Seoul also said it will drop its dispute against Tokyo with the World Trade Organization once the lift takes place, the ministry said.

Japan in 2019 removed South Korea from its "white list" of favored trade partners, after South Korea's court rulings ordered Japanese firms to compensate for wartime forced laborers.

– Jihye Lee

European Central Bank hikes by 50 basis points despite banking turmoil

The European Central Bank followed through with the 50 basis point rate hike it flagged at its prior meeting, despite ongoing volatility in the banking sector.

Markets had pared back bets on the rise after severe sell-offs in European bank stocks over the last week.

It takes the bank's main rate to 3%.

Euro zone headline inflation is running at 8.5%, well above the central bank's target of 2%.

"The elevated level of uncertainty reinforces the importance of a data-dependent approach to the Governing Council's policy rate decisions, which will be determined by its assessment of the inflation outlook in light of the incoming economic and financial data, the dynamics of underlying inflation, and the strength of monetary policy transmission," the ECB said in its decision.

Read more here.

— Jenni Reid

Bank of America, Wells Fargo among biggest contributors for $30 billion First Republic deposit plan

The potential deposit at First Republic being discussed by major U.S. banks has grown to $30 billion, CNBC's David Faber reports.

The biggest contributions would come from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase at about $5 billion apiece. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will deposit around $2.5 billion each, the sources said. Truist, PNC, U.S. Bancorp, State Street and Bank of New York will deposit about $1 billion each.

— Jesse Pound

Big Tech stocks lift market higher

Big Tech shares climbed higher Thursday, shrugging off fears of the spreading banking crisis. Amazon shares rallied 3.3%, while Google parent Alphabet jumped 3%. Apple, Meta and Netflix also traded higher.

The strength in technology heavyweights pushed the major stock averages in the green in morning trading. Investors could be flocking to Big Tech to embrace their megacap safety, while betting that the current turmoil will keep the Fed from raising rates, benefitting growth names.

— Yun Li

Goldman says trouble in banks is increasing chances of a recession

Banking industry tumult is placing the U.S. economy in greater danger of a recession, according to Goldman Sachs.

The Wall Street firm upped its probability of a contraction in the 12 months ahead to 35%, a 10 percentage point increase, "reflecting increased near-term uncertainty around the economic effects of small bank stress," Goldman economist Manuel Abecasis said in a client note Wednesday evening.

Regional bank stocks were taking a beating against Thursday. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF slumped 3.7% in early trading.

—Jeff Cox

Group of institutions in talks to deposit roughly $20 billion in First Republic, sources say

Sources told CNBC's David Faber that a group of financial institutions — including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase — is in talks to deposit about $20 billion in First Republic.

The news comes after First Republic's stock has been pummeled in recent days, sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last Friday and Signature Bank over the weekend. 

Shares of First Republic were down more than 30% earlier in the day. In early afternoon trading, however, the stock was only down 3.3% before being halted for volatility.

— Jesse Pound, Fred Imbert