Asia markets start holiday-shortened week mixed; India stocks edge lower

Shares of financial technology firm Paytm, listed as One 97 Communications, rose 1.6% as the broader Nifty 50 index edged 0.3% lower.

The company confirmed an independent director at its banking arm resigned from the Paytm Payments Bank board on Feb. 1.

Paytm said Manju Agarwal resigned from from her position due to personal commitments, in an exchange filing. The Hindustan Times had reported the resignation on Feb. 9.

The company has come under heat from the Reserve Bank of India, which ordered Paytm Payments Bank in late January to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accounts or digital wallets from March.

Last week, Paytm was in talks with the upper echelons of the Indian government, in efforts to reverse a market rout that wiped some $2.5 billion off its value.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The New Zealand dollar dipped 0.3% to $0.6130, cooling from a roughly 1.4% jump last week.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr said the country's current inflation rate was still too high at 4.7%. Speaking before a parliamentary committee, Orr said the central bank aims to bring inflation down to around 2%.

The kiwi dollar has been buoyed by bets that RBNZ could hike its interest rates again in order to rein in inflation.

LSEG data showed markets were pricing in a 71% chance of a hold when the central bank meets on Feb. 28 and a 52% chance of a hike at its May meeting.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Shares of CSL fell 5% after the Australian biotechnology company said its cardiovascular drug CSL112 failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint in a phase 3 trial.

CSL said the drug did not reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events at 90 days, compared with placebo. As a result, the company said it has "no plans for a near-term regulatory filing."

CSL shares were the biggest loser on Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, and fell to their lowest level in almost one month.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Rising yields were one of last year's major themes as bonds crept into a bear market.

Yields have since dropped and many have called for investors to return to bonds as prices are expected to recover soon.

Falling yields may prompt investors to wonder which corners of the fixed income market still offer higher yields of up to 6%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Tech stocks already had a good run, and investors may be wondering if they still have further to go.

Investors looking for more upside in tech can consider some tech stocks in Citi's list of top "high-conviction" picks from markets across the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

The S&P 500 rose 0.57% to end at 5,026.61 and finish above 5,000 for the first time ever. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.25% to close at 15,990.66, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 54.64 points, or 0.14%, to settle at 38,671.69.

For the week, the S&P added 1.4%, while the Nasdaq's gained 2.3% and the Dow finished flat. All three major averages notched their fifth straight winning week and 14th positive week in 15.

— Samantha Subin

Executives at New York Community Bancorp have put their own money on the line in bets that the bank can steady itself. Seven corporate insiders have purchased stock of NYCB this week, according to Verity Data.

Those insider buys could help boost the confidence of outside investors as well.

Shares of NYCB were up more than 13% in afternoon trading, but the stock is still below $5 per share.

— Jesse Pound

ETFs tied to India, Japan and Israel are the best-performing country ETFs year to date, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

The Invesco India ETF has gained 3.6% in 2024, compared to the S&P 500's 5.3% gains in the same period. The iShares MSCI Japan ETF has jumped 3.51%, followed by the iShares MSCI Israel ETF up 1.7% year to date.

Meanwhile, the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-shares ETF has the largest monthly rise among country ETFs and is up 3.75% in February.

— Hakyung Kim