Asia markets reverse early declines to mostly rise, Hong Kong stocks lead gains

Japan's central bank is expected to revise down its assessment on consumption and factory output this month, according to Reuters.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters said this was due to recent signs that underscore how fragile the economic recovery has been.

The BOJ is also expected to maintain its outlook that the economy will continue recovering moderately.

According to the sources, the revisions will not likely stop the BOJ from unwinding its ultra- easy monetary policy, which is widely expected to start in March or April.

The central bank is set to hold its next monetary policy meeting on March 18-19.

— Lim Hui Jie, Reuters

Eight Australian companies have made commitments to invest around 5.2 billion Australian dollars, or $3.4 billion, in Malaysia, according to a government minister.

"We're looking at both digital economy and the green economy," the country's minister for investment, trade and industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia," noting that data center operator AirTrunk, backed by Macquarie Asset Management, was among the firms that have showed interest in the country.

This comes a day after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reportedly said major Australian companies have shown interest to invest about RM24.5 billion, or $5.1 billion, in the country, during an official visit to Melbourne.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Australia's economy grew 0.2% quarter over quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The reading was driven by government expenditure and private business investment. It was also slightly below a Reuters poll estimate of a 0.3% rise.

"Growth was steady in December, but slowed across each quarter in 2023," said Katherine Keenan, ABS head of national accounts.

"Government spending and private business investment were the main drivers of GDP growth this quarter."

Real GDP in the 12 months through December was 1.5%, slightly above a Reuters poll forecast of a 1.4% increase.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Wealth manager Brian Vendig is bullish on stocks this year, and says there are opportunities for investors outside of 2023's headline-makers.

"We believe stocks have a chance to appreciate because earnings outlooks for this year are expansionary and we are past the slowdown in earnings that we observed for the majority of last year," Vendig, president of MJP Wealth Advisors, wrote in notes to CNBC.

"There are many areas of the market that did not significantly participate in the returns last year — such as healthcare, industrials, materials, financials and consumer staples — and that creates opportunities for investors."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

South Korea's inflation rate rose for the first time in three months to come in at 3.1%, higher than the 2.8% in January and also more than the 2.9% expected by a Reuters poll.

The country's core inflation rate, which strips out prices of food and energy, came in at 2.5%.

South Korea's central bank was the first major central bank to stop its rate hikes early in 2023, holding its base rate at 3.5%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Nvidia may have enjoyed a red-hot run on the back of the artificial intelligence craze, but many other tech stocks have also benefited.

As with any investing theme, diversification is needed.

Veteran tech investor Paul Meeks told CNBC Pro that even if Nvidia is a "great story," it's "too risky to be in just one" when it comes to AI.

Plus, one analyst names two startups that could be the next Nvidia.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Crude oil futures edged lower Tuesday as China's pledged to boost economic growth and OPEC+ decision to extend its production cuts fell flat with traders.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April shed 59 cents, or 0.75%, to settle at $78.15 a barrel. May Brent futures lost 76 cents, or 0.92%, to settle at $82.04 a barrel.

The Beijing government on Tuesday set an economic growth target of about 5% for 2024 and announced the issuance of $138.9 billion in "ultra-long" special treasury bonds to fund major projects.

OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to extend crude production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day through the second quarter.

— Spencer Kimball

Technology stocks underperformed on Tuesday, pushing the Nasdaq Composite and concentrated Nasdaq 100 down about 2.5% each.

A slew of "Magnificent 7" stocks were among the worst performers, with Tesla last down more than 4%. Apple and Microsoft shed about 3% each, while Amazon and Meta Platforms lost about 2%.

Semiconductor and software stocks also lagged, with CrowdStrike, Intel, Datadog and MondoDB slumping at least 6% each. Adobe, Broadcom, On Semiconductor and Globalfoundries dropped at least 4%, while Advanced Micro Devices declined about 1.6%

— Samantha Subin

Weighed down by brewing overseas troubles, shares of Tesla slid nearly 5% by early afternoon during Tuesday's trading session.

The electric vehicle maker's losses were compounded by declining sales in China.

"Tesla's China-made vehicle sales of ~60.4k vehicles were down 19% YoY in February from ~74.5k vehicles in the prior year, according to the China Passenger Car Association," wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner in a Tuesday note.

However, the analyst supplied the caveat that these weak headline numbers were not solely limited to Tesla.

The company also faced a shutdown at a Berlin factory following a suspected arson attack. Production is not expected to resume this week, according to Tesla's Berlin factory head, as reported by Reuters.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Bitcoin climbed to an all-time high on Tuesday, topping $69,000 and breaking a previous record set in 2021. The cryptocurrency hit a high around $69,210, according to Coin Metrics. It was last up about 1% at $68,307. The move comes amid excitement around bitcoin ETFs and the upcoming halving event.

— Fred Imbert