South Korea leads gains in Asia as investors assess Powell's comments; Hong Kong, China and Taiwan markets closed

Retail sales in Singapore climbed 8.4% year on year in February, marking its largest gain in 12 months and sharply higher than the revised 1.6% growth seen in January.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales surged 9.4% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Singapore's statistics department explained that the sharp rise was mainly associated with Chinese New Year being celebrated in February this year, as opposed to January last year.

For the first two months this year, retail sales grew 4.7% compared with the same period in 2023.

— Lim Hui Jie

India's service sector activity expanded at a faster clip compared with February, according to surveys done by HSBC, with the services purchasing managers' index beating expectations of economists polled by Reuters.

Services PMI came in at 61.2, climbing from the 60.3 seen in February and surpassing the 60.6 estimated in the Reuters poll.

HSBC wrote that the growth was "one of the strongest growth rates seen in over 13-and-a-half years," attributing it to "demand conditions, efficiency gains and positive sales developments."

Separately, India's Composite PMI rose from 60.6 in February to 61.8 in March, marking the second-strongest expansion in over 13.5 years.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan will not intervene in the currency market unless the yen weakens beyond 155 against the U.S. dollar, according to Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan's top currency diplomat from 2004 to 2007.

Reuters reported that Watanabe said the chance of intervention was slim for now, since the yen's declines have been within a broad range unlike in 2022, when the currency was falling more sharply.

He added that while markets are monitoring the 152 level against the greenback, Japanese authorities likely won't see any break above that level alone as a strong enough reason to intervene.

The yen last traded at 151.68 against the dollar.

— Lim Hui Jie, Reuters

Crude oil prices on Thursday climbed to their highest level since October 2023 on investor concerns about supply disruptions due to conflict in the Middle East.

Brent futures were trading 0.21% higher at $89.53 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures were up 0.25% at $85.62 per barrel.

Separately, spot gold hit a fresh high before giving up some gains. It was last trading at $2,300.2 per ounce.

— Lim Hui Jie

Chinese authorities had "nudged" Swiss agrichemicals and seeds group Syngenta to withdraw its application for a $9 billion IPO, according to a Reuters report.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters said that this was due to concerns about the impact a sizeable new offering would have on a volatile market.

"The planned flotation finally came unstuck after Syngenta, owned by Sinochem, in March received informal instructions from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to pull its bid for the mega listing," the report said.

Last May, Sygenta filed its application to list in Shanghai and raise 65 billion yuan ($8.98 billion), with its executives saying as recently as November that it planned to list in 2024.

The company announced last week that it was withdrawing its bid to list, "after careful consideration of industry environment and the company's own development strategy."

— Lim Hui Jie, Reuters

Hong Kong's retail sales climbed 1.9% year on year in February, accelerating from a 0.9% gain in the previous month.

In terms of volume, retail sales rose 0.5%, reversing from a 1.2% loss in January.

Hong Kong's census and statistics department said it was "more appropriate to analyze the retail sales figures for January and February together" due to greater volatility during the Chinese New Year period.

For the first two months of 2024, it was provisionally estimated that total retail sales increased by 1.4%, compared with the same period in 2023.

— Lim Hui Jie

A Tesla short-seller has named two auto stocks that he believes have the potential to deliver 100% upside to investors.

Lekander, who holds a short position in Tesla shares, has said the EV carmaker could "go bust" while its stock could fall to $14. Short-sellers profit when shares fall.

The hedge fund manager said that the "Tesla bubble" had created what he called an "anti-bubble" in the auto sector, causing investors to be overly bearish on companies that are actually performing well.

Lekander named the two auto stocks that could double in share price from current level as the Tesla bubble deflates. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Some investors may be hesitant about buying Tesla right now, but one analyst is bullish on the stock.

Over the last 12 months, the stock of Elon Musk's auto giant has plunged by nearly 14.5%.

Shares also took a hit on Tuesday, after Tesla delivered far fewer cars than expected by analysts polled by FactSet in the first quarter of the year.

One global autos analyst, however, sees opportunities in investing in Tesla, particularly in the longer term.

"The stock, despite this performance today, is only down like 4.5%, which makes me think that expectations are already really low," Tom Narayan from RBC Capital Markets told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on April. 3.

He also outlined other opportunities he sees in both the short and longer-term.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

The equity starting October 2023 was initially led by mega-cap tech stocks. However, HSBC Global Research says March's performance indicates the gains may be diversifying.

"Over the past month, the S&P on an equal weighted basis outperformed the overall index, suggesting a broadening of the equity rally, which we expect to widen further as a soft landing materializes," strategist Nicole Inui wrote in a Tuesday note.

Inui noted that market expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in June have dropped to 56% from 69% following the FOMC meeting.

— Hakyung Kim

30 stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs during Wednesday's trading session.

Here are a few of the names that hit this milestone:

• Domino's Pizza trading at levels not seen since Jan, 2022
• Kinder Morgan trading at levels not seen since Feb, 2023
• Progressive trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in 1971
• Caterpillar trading at all-time high levels back to when it first began trading on the NYSE in 1929
• 3M trading at levels not seen since Feb, 2023
• Marathon Petroleum trading at all-time highs back to its spinoff from Marathon Oil in June, 2011
• Diamondback Energy trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in Oct, 2012
• Dow Inc trading at levels not seen since Feb, 2023
• Micron trading at all-time highs back to IPO in June, 1984

— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed confidence Wednesday about the current state of the economy and policy.

"I think we've gotten to what is, knock on wood, a pretty good place," Powell said in remarks at Stanford University. "We're using our tools now to try to bring inflation down the rest of the way to 2%, all while keeping the economy strong as well."

—Jeff Cox