Share

Asia markets mixed after U.S. stocks jump on inflation data

Lim Hui Jie

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

Commercial and residential buildings are illuminated at dawn in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. South Korea has prepared a financial support program of 75.9 trillion won ($56.97 billion) for companies increasing investment in key sectors as well as small businesses struggling with the impact of high interest rates.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed after Wall Street jumped overnight, following U.S. inflation data that largely met expectations.

The U.S. consumer price index in February climbed 0.4% on the month and 3.2% year over year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a 0.4% increase month on month and 3.1% year over year.

Core inflation, which strips out food and energy from the headline reading, climbed 0.4% in February, compared to a forecast gain of 0.3%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the day up 0.22% at 7,729.40, extending gains from Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 reversed gains to fall 0.26%, closing at 38,695.97 and extending its losing streak to a third straight day, while the broad-based Topix also dropped 0.33% to 2,648.51 after logging gains early in the session.

South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.44% to 2,693.57 after its February unemployment rate came in at 2.6%, down from January's figure of 3%. The small-cap Kosdaq ended marginally up at 889.93, snapping three days of gains.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was flat, after notching a rise of over 3% on Tuesday, with the mainland CSI 300 ended down 0.7% at 3,572.36.


Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes rose after the inflation readings, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.12% and hitting a new record high of 5,175.27.

The Nasdaq Composite also saw a 1.54% gain as investors plunged back into tech names, sending shares of Nvidia and Oracle up 7% and 11% respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.61%.

— CNBC's Yun Li and Brian Evans contributed to this report.

Shares of Japan's Canon Electronics plunge after Space One rocket explodes

Canon Electronics shares fell as much as 12.7% after Tokyo-based Space One's rocket exploded just moments into its inaugural launch.

Cannon is part of a group of companies that founded Space One in 2018.

The solid-fueled Kairos rocket exploded within seconds of lifting off at 11:01 a.m. Japan time, Reuters reported. A successful mission would have made Space One the first Japanese company to put a satellite in orbit.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
hide content

IHI Aerospace, construction firm Shimizu and government-owned Development Bank of Japan are the other companies that helped set up Space One. Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial Group, two of Japan's biggest banks, also own minority stakes in Space One.

Read the full story here.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

South Korea's unemployment rate at 2.6% in February

South Korea's unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted rate of 2.6% year over year in February, according to official data.

The reading was slightly lower than January's unemployment rate at 3%. It was also the lowest since October 2023.

Stocks in South Korea were slightly higher, with the Kospi up 0.5%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

CNBC Pro: Goldman Sachs just added — and removed — stocks on its 'conviction list' of top Asian picks

Goldman Sachs has refreshed its "conviction list" of top picks in Asia Pacific for March, adding some key stocks and removing others.

The bank struck an optimistic tone on the region, noting that its markets had recovered their January losses and were now trading flat year to date.

"Wide market/sector/factor performance disparity and less large cap bias than the U.S. reinforce the theme of intra-regional opportunity," the investment bank's analysts wrote in a March 3 note as it revealed which stocks it had added, and which it had removed.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

India's inflation slows marginally in February, but tops estimates

India's inflation in February inched down to 5.09% from 5.10% in January.

However, this figure was higher than the 5.02% expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Data from India's National Statistical Office revealed that food and beverages led price growth in February, recording an inflation rate of 7.76%.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Sell Nvidia or stick with it? Here's what investors say

Nvidia has had an astronomical rise, soaring over 200% in 2023 alone on the back of the artificial intelligence buzz.

Though the stock dived more than 5% on Friday and by another 2% on Monday, it's still up this year by around 73%.

Is it time to take profit, even if only partially — or should investors stay the course? Here's what those who currently hold Nvidia shares are doing — or planning to do — with their positions.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Investor sentiment skews net bullish but momentum is fading, Citi says

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on February 23, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

The current bull market rally has more or less been ongoing since late October. But despite sentiment skewing net bullish, momentum seems to have faded in major markets, Citi said.

"Investor sentiment on U.S. equities appears less bullish, but there's no turn to any bearishness. There remains only a few shorts on S&P and none at all on Nasdaq positioning, but the rate of new longs and ETF inflows have slowed since the end of last year," wrote the bank's Chris Montagu.

Overseas, positioning has been moderating from extended bullish levels in Europe. Momentum has also faded in the Chinese equities market, leaving sentiment less bearish but not necessarily bullish, Montagu added.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Oracle pops 10%, heads for best day since December 2021

Oracle shares surged more than 10% on Tuesday and headed for their best day since Dec. 10. 2021 after the database software company posted stronger-than-expected earnings fiscal third-quarter results after the bell Monday.

The company topped earnings expectations by 3 cents a share, while revenues came in at $13.28 billion, falling slightly short of the $13.30 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

Oracle said that its cloud services and license support segment saw a 12% rise in sales during the period, due in part to a spike in demand for artificial intelligence servers. The company also said that large new cloud infrastructure contracts signed during the period pushed up total remining performance obligations 29%.

The stock was also the best performer in the S&P 500's information technology sector.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
hide content
Oracle pops 10% after earnings, heads for best day since December 2021

— Samantha Subin

February CPI rises 0.4% month over month, climbs 3.2% year over year

A view of grocery store in Washington DC, United States on February 14, 2024.
Mostafa Bassim | Anadolu | Getty Images

The consumer price index report for February was mixed, raising questions on when the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates.

CPI climbed 0.4% month over month and 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a month-over-month increase of 0.4%. Year over year, they had forecast a gain of 3.1%.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was also slightly hotter than expected year over year and month over month.

— Fred Imbert