Asia markets mostly fall as Japan corporate inflation climbs; New Zealand holds rates

Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings announced it is considering splitting its convenience store and superstore businesses, with the aim of listing the latter.

In a filing to the Japan Exchange Group, the company said the superstore business has underperformed for many years, due to the competitive landscape for Japanese supermarkets, and its focus on growing the convenience store business.

Despite recognizing that the superstore business provides a competitive advantage to the group, Seven & i said that the long-term underperformance is not tenable.

As such, the split will allow the superstore business the autonomy "to pursue re-growth, and to have independence financially in strategic decision making."

— Lim Hui Jie

Ratings agency Fitch revised its outlook on China to "negative" from "stable," citing "increasing risks to China's public finance outlook."

The agency said in its report that the country faces more uncertain economic prospects and a transition away from property reliant growth.

Furthermore, it noted that wide fiscal deficits and rising government debt in recent years have eroded fiscal buffers, and that debt could still increase as fiscal policy increasingly plays an important role in supporting growth in the coming years.

However, Fitch affirmed its A+ rating on China, citing supporting factors including its large and diversified economy, solid GDP growth prospects relative to peers and an integral role in global goods trade.

— Lim Hui Jie

New Zealand's central bank has held its benchmark interest rate steady at 5.5%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said that "a restrictive monetary policy stance remains necessary to further reduce capacity pressures and inflation," noting that current consumer price inflation remains above its 1% to 3% target range.

However, the bank also expressed confidence that despite near-term price pressures, holding rates at a restrictive level for a sustained period will return inflation to its target range this year.

— Lim Hui Jie

Chinese internet technology giant NetEase has teamed up with Microsoft to bring back games by Blizzard Entertainment to the world's second-largest economy.

The move comes after the partnership between the two companies was terminated in 2023 by Blizzard, citing disagreement over intellectual property control.

The press release states that the renewed publishing agreement will encompass games Chinese players had access to under the previous agreement, including World of Warcraft and Overwatch.

Separately, Microsoft and NetEase have also entered into an agreement to explore bringing new NetEase titles to Xbox consoles and other platforms.

— Lim Hui Jie

Spot gold prices hit fresh highs, reaching a record $2,352.57 per ounce on Tuesday and an intraday high of $2,365.09.

Gold prices have set new highs for three straight days, according to data from LSEG.

Reuters reported the rise was fueled by central bank purchases and geopolitical tensions, with China's central bank notably adding 160,000 troy ounces of gold to its reserves in March.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan's corporate goods price index rose 0.8% in March from a year ago, accelerating from the revised 0.7% increase in February and in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters.

This is also the third straight month that the corporate inflation rate has increased.

On a month on month basis, the CGPI climbed 0.2%, slightly lower than Reuters expectations of a 0.3% increase.

The CGPI measures the price changes of goods traded within the corporate sector.

— Lim Hui Jie

In a market where finding reliable passive income streams can be challenging, two fund managers have shared their insights on dividend stocks that could offer attractive yields and growth potential.

Matt Burdett, portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment, looks for companies with the ability and willingness to pay dividends, focusing on cash generation and resilient business models.

Meanwhile, Brian Leonard, portfolio manager at Keeley Teton, told CNBC Pro that he looks for high-quality companies that pay a dividend and trade at a discount to their "intrinsic value." He also citied spin-off situations as an investment opportunity.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about their stock picks here.

— Ganesh Rao

Markets may have continued their run for much of this year after a bullish 2023, but stocks pulled back last week.

Overall, however, markets — including global stocks — are still very much deep in positive territory.

The relative strength index (RSI), which measures the magnitude and speed of price moves, can be used by investors to determine if shares are overbought.

Stocks with a 14-day RSI higher than 70 are likely overbought and may be due for a pullback.

CNBC Pro screened the S&P 500 and the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF for the most overbought names, using a 14-day RSI of higher than 70.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Tuesday's equity pullback indicates the market is questioning if the rally has come too far, too fast, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management.

Notably, Nvidia has experienced a choppy month, said Ma. The stock is down nearly 3% Tuesday.

"I think the collective concern the markets experiencing a bit of today is if some of these growth prospects maybe don't come in as quickly, or as strongly as what has been priced in a very short period of time," said Ma.

In addition to Nvidia, several AI infrastructure and data center stocks are struggling Tuesday, he added.

"Stocks that go into the nuts and bolts of what would drive some of the AI revolution; some of those are struggling on the day. So I think it's a question of how we've just gone too far too fast," Ma added.

— Hakyung Kim

Twelve S&P 500 stocks hit fresh highs on Tuesday. Some of the names include Google-parent Alphabet, which on Tuesday unveiled its Arm-based chips at its Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas. American mining company Freeport-McMoRan gained 2% after Bank of America called it a stock with "blue chip copper exposure."

Here are some of the other names.

• Alphabet C share trading at all-time highs back to the special distribution on April 2, 2014 (when the non-voting share was created, and it began trading on April 3, 2014)
• Alphabet A share trading all-time highs back to its IPO on August 19, 2004
• Amazon.com trading at levels not seen since November 2021
• EOG Resources trading at levels not seen since January 2023
• Emerson Electric trading at all-time highs back through the company's history to 1890
• Freeport-McMoRan trading at levels not seen since August 2011
• Packaging Corp. of America trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in 2000

— Sarah Min, Chris Hayes

Here are the stock's making the biggest moves during midday trading:

• Boeing — The airplane maker was down more than 2% after a New York Times report said regulators were investigating claims from a whistleblower about flaws in the company's 787 Dreamliner.
• Norfolk Southern — The railroad stock gained 1%. Norfolk Southern announced that it reached a $600 million settlement related to its derailment in East Palestine. The company also posted preliminary first-quarter earnings.

Read the full list of companies on the move here.

— Samantha Subin