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Tokyo stocks lead Asia markets lower, Japan inflation data awaited

Shreyashi Sanyal
Lim Hui Jie

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

An employee works on the assembly line of LED lighting products in China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets started the week on soft footing, with stocks in Tokyo leading declines as investors look ahead to key economic data from China and Japan this week.

Most notably, China will release its third-quarter gross domestic product numbers on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters expect a 4.4% year-on-year expansion, down from 6.3% in the previous quarter.

The People's Bank of China left its one-year medium-term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.50%, as expected.

Japan's September inflation data is expected on Friday, which will come ahead of the country's central bank's monetary policy meeting on Oct. 30 and 31.

South Korea's central bank will also announce its rate decision on Thursday. The Bank of Korea has held rates steady for five meetings in a row at 3.5% since February.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.35% to 7,027.90, while New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index closed 0.71% lower at 11,185.08.

Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 2.03% lower at 31,659.03, while the Topix dropped 1.53% to 2,273.54.

South Korea's Kospi index ended the session with falls of 0.81% at 2,436.24.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1% in the final hour of trading, while China's benchmark CSI 300 index ended 1% lower at 3,626.60.


On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes ended the day mixed, pressured by a spike in oil prices and rising inflation expectations, as Wall Street wrapped up a volatile week.

The S&P 500 declined by 0.50%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.23% The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, rising by 0.12%

— CNBC's Pia Singh and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.

India wholesale inflation remains in deflation territory for sixth straight month

Wholesale inflation in India unexpectedly remained in deflation, with the wholesale price index falling 0.26% in September from a year ago.

This is in contrast to the 0.5% year-on-year rise expected by economists polled by Reuters, but a softer fall compared with the 0.52% decline seen in August.

The wholesale price index tracks prices of goods traded between corporations. 

The September reading means that India's wholesale inflation has been in deflation territory for six straight months, although September's reading was the softest decline recorded since April.

— Lim Hui Jie

J&T Express looks to raise $500 million in Hong Kong IPO

Logistics firm J&T Express is eyeing a $500 million listing in Hong Kong in what would be the city's second largest listing of 2023.

The company will issue 326.5 million shares priced at 12 Hong Kong dollars ($1.53) each, according to the company's prospectus. At listing, J&T will have a market capitalization of $13.5 billion.

Back in February, Reuters reported that the company had earlier aimed to raise at least $1 billion via a Hong Kong IPO in the second half of 2023.

The company has revealed that it has nine cornerstone investors, including Chinese tech giant Tencent and Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek. The cornerstone investors will commit $199.5 million, or about 39.9% of the IPO.

— Lim Hui Jie

China leaves medium-term and short-term lending rates unchanged

China has left its key short-term and medium-term lending rates unchanged, with the 7-day reverse repurchase rate standing at 1.8% and the one-year medium term lending facility rate at 2.5%.

The People's Bank of China has also injected 106 billion yuan ($14.77 billion) of 7-day reverse repos at the same rate of 1.8%.

Following the move, the onshore yuan weakened marginally to trade at 7.3093 against the greenback, while the offshore yuan also weakened to 7.3121.

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— Lim Hui Jie

New Zealand dollar rises after election results

The New Zealand dollar strengthened on Monday after conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon was elected as the country's new prime minister.

The kiwi dollar rose 0.49% at $0.5913 in Asia trading. The center-right National Party led by Luxon will form a new government with its preferred coalition party ACT.

Investors will also await New Zealand inflation figures due on Tuesday for more clues on whether another hike in interest rates is on the cards. Consumer prices are expected to rise 2.0% in the third quarter, up from 1.1% in the prior quarter.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Gold logs best day of the year on Friday; Crude oil best day since April

December gold futures contracts closed 3.11% higher Friday, turning in the strongest one-day advance since Dec. 2022, and rising above their 50- and 200-day moving averages for the first since Sept. 20. Gold's weekly 5.22% gain was the most since mid-March, and left the precious metal 6.31% higher on the year.

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF jumped 4.36% Friday, while the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF climbed 5.12%.

In energy markets, West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil both turned in their best days since April 3, with November WTI futures surging 5.77% to $87.69 a barrel and December Brent climbing 5.69% to $90.89/bbl. The national average for a gallon of gasoline dropped to $3.628, down 12 cents from a week ago and 22 cents from a month ago, the American Automobile Association said.

Among soft commodities, orange juice closed at a record, with November futures rising 0.17% to $3.859 per pound, posting a sixth straight week of gains. Orange juice is higher by 90.25% in 2023.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla

Consumer sentiment slips, inflation outlook spikes, survey shows

Consumer sentiment slumped in October while inflation expectations spiked, according to the University of Michigan's closely watched survey.

The survey posted a headline reading of 63, down from 68.1 in September and below the Dow Jones estimate for 67.4, a preliminary reading released Friday showed. The current conditions index also moved down, to 66.7 from 71.4.

On inflation, the one-year outlook jumped to 3.8%, up from 3.2% and the highest reading since May. On a five-year basis, the outlook moved up to 3% from 2.8%.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks end Friday mostly lower

Here's how the major indexes ended Friday's trading session:

— Pia Singh

Regional banks are in focus in the week ahead

Regional banks will be in focus in the week ahead as traders head into the thick of third-quarter earnings season. 

"I want really some indication as to whether the regional banking crisis of last March has really ended," Komal Sri-Kumar, president at Sri-Kumar Global Strategies. "I don't think so." 

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Sarah Min