This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets dropped on Thursday, but largely pared losses as the trading day went on as turmoil around Credit Suisse added onto banking fears in the region.
Shares of Credit Suisse plunged to a new all-time low Wednesday for the second consecutive day after its top investor ruled out further assistance.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 1.89%, leading losses in the region, and the Hang Seng Tech index lost 1.43%.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed 1.12% lower at 3,226.89, and the Shenzhen Component saw a larger loss at 1.54% to end at 11,237.7.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.46% to close at 6,965.5, dragged by miners and the banking sector. Investors also digested unemployment numbers, which came in at 3.5% in February.
In Japan, the Topix fell 1.17% to end at 1,937.1 on Thursday as the country saw its trade data for February come in lower than expected. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% to finish at 27,010.61.
South Korea's Kospi also fell marginally to end at 2,377.91, but the Kosdaq bucked the wider trend and closed 0.1% higher at 781.98.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | NIKKEI | 32,265.17 | +623.90 | +1.97% |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | HSI | 19,389.95 | +90.77 | +0.47% |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | ASX 200 | 7,122.50 | +22.80 | +0.32% |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | SHANGHAI | 3,231.41 | +17.82 | +0.55% |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | KOSPI | 2,641.16 | +30.31 | +1.16% |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | CNBC 100 | 8,481.61 | +102.64 | +1.22% |
Overnight in the US, major indexes ended largely lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.9% and the S&P 500 shedding 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite eked out a small gain, rising 0.05%.
—CNBC's Alex Harring, John Melloy and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
South Korea said Japan has agreed to lift export restrictions on three semiconductor materials to Seoul, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.
Seoul also said it will drop its dispute against Tokyo with the World Trade Organization once the lift takes place, the ministry said.
Japan in 2019 removed South Korea from its "white list" of favored trade partners, after South Korea's court rulings ordered Japanese firms to compensate for wartime forced laborers.
– Jihye Lee
Ping An Insurance has reported a full year net profit of 83.77 billion yuan ($12.14 billion) for 2022, 17% lower compared to the same period a year before.
In its results release, revenue also fell to 1.22 trillion yuan, down from the 1.29 trillion yuan in 2021.
Despite the lower figures, the company raised its dividends. Full year dividends grew 1.7% compared to a year ago to RMB2.42.
Shares of Ping An in Hong Kong were last trading 3.25% lower, having pared some losses earlier in the day.
—Lim Hui Jie
The chairman of Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, told CNBC's Hadley Gamble that the recent market turmoil in the banking sector is "isolated" and stems from "a little bit of panic."
"If you look at how the entire banking sector has dropped, unfortunately, a lot of people were just looking for excuses ... it's panic, a little bit of panic," Ammar Al Khudairy said on CNBC's "Capital Connection."
He added that Credit Suisse has not asked Saudi National Bank for financial assistance.
"There has been no discussions with Credit Suisse about providing assistance," he said. "I don't know where the word 'assistance' came from, there has been no discussions whatsoever since October," he said.
His comments come after Credit Suisse announced it will be borrowing up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.68 billion) from the Swiss National Bank to shore up liquidity and investor confidence after its stock plunged Wednesday.
– Jihye Lee
Forcing ByteDance to sell its stakes in TikTok will not ease security concerns, a spokesperson for TikTok told NBC News.
The comments came in response to a Wall Street Journal's report saying the U.S. government is threatening ByteDance to divest its stakes in TikTok or face a possible ban of the app.
"If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn't solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access," the spokesperson said, according to NBC.
"The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing," the spokesperson said.
– Valeriya Antonshchuk, Jihye Lee
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has paused approvals for new global depository receipts sales, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar.
The regulator's pause comes from concerns that GDR sales could pressure mainland-listed stocks – citing Chinese investors that later covert the securities into shares in China to profit from price gaps, the report added.
China regulators are considering new rules for the offerings, Bloomberg reported.
– Jihye Lee
Regulators at the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have asked banks interested in acquiring shuttered banks, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, to submit bids by March 17, Reuters reported.
The FDIC is aiming to sell both SVB and Signature in their entirety, while offers for parts of the banks could be considered if whole company sales do not happen, said Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.
This will be the FDIC's second attempt at selling SVB after a failed effort on Sunday.
Any buyer of Signature must agree to give up all the crypto business at the bank, the two sources that Reuters cited added.
— Lim Hui Jie
New Zealand's gross domestic product fell 0.6% in the quarter ending December 2022, a reversal from a 1.7 % rise in the previous quarter.
For the full year of 2022, GDP expanded by 2.2%, down from the 6% recorded for the whole of 2021.
Out of 16 industries, only five recorded an increase in activity compared to the quarter before.
Manufacturing was the biggest driver of the decrease, down 1.9%.
— Lim Hui Jie
The Swiss franc saw continued volatility following developments around Credit Suisse – and last strengthened 0.17% against the U.S. dollar to pare earlier weakening after the lender announced to borrow nearly $54 billion from Swiss National Bank.
The Japanese yen also saw further strengthening to trade at 132.86 against the greenback. The Korean won strengthened 0.13% to 1,311.24 against the U.S. dollar.
– Jihye Lee
Credit Suisse announced it will be borrowing up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.69 billion) from the Swiss National Bank under a covered loan facility and a short-term liquidity facility.
The steps will "support Credit Suisse's core businesses and clients as Credit Suisse takes the necessary steps to create a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs," the company said in an announcement.
In addition, the bank is making a cash tender offer in relation to ten U.S. dollar denominated senior debt securities for an aggregate consideration of up to $2.5 billion – as well as a separate offer to four Euro denominated senior debt securities for up to an aggregate 500 million euros, the company said.
Read more here.
– Jihye Lee
Banks in South Korea and Australia have reversed earlier losses after Swiss lender Credit Suisse announced liquidity measures to assuage investor fears.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia pared most of its losses in volatile trading – it traded 0.15% lower after falling as much as 1.97% earlier. Westpac Banking and National Australia Bank fell as much as 2.35% and 1.81% respectively before erasing some of its declines and last fell 1.34% and 0.58% lower.
Some South Korean banks fell as much as 2% earlier – Woori Financial Group last fell 1.62%, Shinhan Finance traded 1.69% lower and KB Kookmin Bank slumped 1.12%.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan banks pared some losses slightly Thursday morning after Credit Suisse announced it will 'pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity' position by borrowing CHF50 billion ($54 billion) from Swiss National Bank, as well as issue a public tender for CHF 3 billion worth of bonds.
Before the announcement, shares of MUFG shed over 5% and was the top loser on the Topix, but have narrowed to just 3.35% loss, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slid 5% and have since pared back to a 3.59% drop.
The Topix as a whole was lower over 2% prior to the announcement, but is now down slightly at 1.4%.
— Lim Hui Jie
The European banking sector is experiencing a sharp increase in risk indicators following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank last week.
The jump in investors' perception of default rose after that SVB's collapse last week, the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, which has sparked "widespread concern" concerns of a contagion taking root while interest rates remain high.
— Ganesh Rao
Some Wall Street investors may be cautious on tech right now, especially after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
But others are seeing the volatility as an opportunity to snap up some tech stocks. After rallying to start the year, the Nasdaq Composite has lost more than 5% in the past month.
Morgan Stanley named its best picks in tech, giving one nearly 60% upside.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Australia's unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.7% in January to 3.5% in February, seasonally adjusted government data showed.
That was lower than expectations to see an unemployment rate of 3.6%, according to a Reuters poll.
The economy's labor participation rate was in line with expectations at 66.6%, an increase from 66.5% seen in the previous month.
The Australian dollar slightly strengthened by 0.23% to 0.6630 against the U.S. dollar.
– Jihye Lee
Japan's trade deficit has widened to 897.7 billion yen ($6.76 million) in February, up 26.2% compared to the same period a year ago.
According to government data, exports in February came in 6.5% higher, while imports grew 8.3%. These were lower than forecasts put forward by economists, who expected export and import growth of 7.1% and 12.2% respectively.
Notably, Japan's exports to Europe and the U.S. grew 18.6% and 14.9% respectively on an annualized basis, while exports to China dipped 10.9%.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan's shunto wage negotiations concluded Wednesday, Reuters reported – marking the biggest pay rises not seen in decades as inflation levels rise.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected to see a boost of roughly 3% in overall wages for the economy, marking the largest increment since 1997.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called for better pay for workers in Japan, citing a weakened currency and higher levels of commodity prices leading to raised import costs in an overall high inflation environment, the report said.
– Jihye Lee
First Republic Bank is considering options to shore up liquidity including a sale of the lender, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The bank is expected to draw interest from its rivals and no decision has been made, the report said.
Shares of the bank rose 3.92% in after hour trading in U.S. Wednesday evening – after seeing a rise of more than 20% earlier in the week alongside regional banks.
– Jihye Lee
Goldman Sachs on Wednesday lowered its 2023 economic growth forecast by 0.3 percentage points to 1.2%, citing a pullback in lending from small- and medium-sized banks amid turmoil in the broader financial system.
Analysts expect that small banks will attempt to preserve liquidity in case they need to meet depositor withdrawals, leading to a substantial tightening in bank lending standards that could weigh on aggregate demand. "Small and medium-sized banks play an important role in the US economy," they wrote.
Banks with less than $250 billion in assets comprise about 50% of U.S. commercial and industrial lending, the firm noted. Click here to read more.
— Pia Singh
The Swiss National Bank said Wednesday that it will provide banking giant Credit Suisse with liquidity if needed.
In a joint statement, the SNB and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority said: "FINMA confirms that Credit Suisse meets the higher capital and liquidity requirements applicable to systemically important banks. In addition, the SNB will provide liquidity to the globally active bank if necessary."
Credit Suisse shares were under pressure Wednesday after the bank's largest investor said it wouldn't provide more financial assistance. U.S.-listed shares of Credit Suisse were last down more than 18%.
— Fred Imbert
Credit Suisse shares fell more than 23% in heavy volume as the market opened. Shares sank to a fresh all-time low of $1.75.
Troubles at the Swiss bank have reignited the turmoil among financial stocks, with pressure especially acute for mid-size U.S. banks. The bank's largest investor, Saudi National Bank, said it can't provide the company with further financial assistance.
—Christina Cheddar Berk