This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets rose after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted that interest rate cuts may not be too distant if inflation signals support policy easing.
Speaking to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell didn't offer an exact timeline for rate cuts, but noted they would go down soon.
"We're waiting to become more confident that inflation is moving sustainably at 2%. When we do get that confidence, and we're not far from it, it'll be appropriate to begin to dial back the level of restriction," Powell said in response to a question about rates and inflation.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recorded a third straight day of gains, up 1.07%, to hit a record high of 7,847.
Japan's Nikkei 225 traded 0.23% higher to close at 39,688.94, while the Topix rose 0.3% to 2,726.8 as January household spending fell more than expected, dropping 6.3% year on year compared with the 4.3% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The metric gives a clue to whether inflation is outpacing wage gains, which is being closely watched by the Bank of Japan.
South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.24% to end at 2,680.35, while the small-cap Kosdaq was up 1.14% at 873.18.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.13%, while China's CSI 300 closed 0.43% higher at 3,544.91.
TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
.N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | NIKKEI | 38,646.11 | -457.11 | -1.17% |
.HSI | Hang Seng Index | HSI | 18,608.94 | -259.77 | -1.38% |
.AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | ASX 200 | 7,727.60 | UNCH | UNCH |
.SSEC | Shanghai | SHANGHAI | 3,088.87 | -27.52 | -0.88% |
.KS11 | KOSPI Index | KOSPI | 2,687.60 | -34.21 | -1.26% |
.FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | CNBC 100 | 9,689.74 | -89.39 | -0.91% |
Overnight in the U.S., both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite surged to record highs, as hopes over easing inflation and gains in tech aided Wall Street's midweek bounce.
The broad S&P 500 advanced 1.03% to 5,157.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.51% to 16,273.38.
Both notched all-time highs during the session, while the S&P 500 also clinched a closing record. Separately, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.34%.
— CNBC's Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report
Li Auto announced plans to launch more than 2,000 super charging stations this year, according to a Weibo post on Friday.
Earlier this month, the company said it would set up more than 5,000 stations and invest more than 6 billion yuan ($834.41 million) in the charging infrastructure.
Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for further support for new energy vehicle development, especially by constructing charging infrastructure.
In China's highly anticipated "Two Sessions" meeting on Tuesday, Beijing said its efforts to boost the new energy sector by various measures contributed to "a 37.9% increase in sales of new energy vehicles in 2023."
— Shreyashi Sanyal
China's passenger vehicle sales jumped 16.3% year-over-year in the January-February period, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed Friday according to Reuters.
In January, sales totaled to 3.16 million or a 57.1% year-over-year rise, but fell 21.6% year-over-year in February.
Sales of EVs during the two months rose 18.2% from a year ago, a slower pace than the 20.8% across 2023.
— Reuters
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.45% , led by health care and financial stocks, after the city announced a new draft security bill proposing penalties up to life imprisonment for offences such as insurrection and treason.
Other crimes that will incur up to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment also include inciting a member of Chinese armed forces to mutiny, as well as colluding with external forces to damage or weaken public infrastructure to endanger national security.
The draft Article 23 also proposed a 20 year prison sentence for espionage and 10 years for offences related to state secrets.
— Lim Hui Jie, Lee Ying Shan
The Japanese yen continued to strengthen against the U.S. dollar, a day after it hit a month high.
The yen hit 147.57 on Friday, its strongest level since Feb. 1. On Thursday, Japan's biggest industrial union group, UA Zensen, reportedly said employers have agreed to hike wages by 6.7% for full-time workers as part of the annual spring wage negotiations.
Higher wages are a prerequisite for the Bank of Japan to start unwinding its ultra easy monetary policy, which could lead to rate hikes and a stronger yen.
— Lim Hui Jie
Spending by households in Japan with two or more people fell 6.3% year on year in January, official data showed Friday.
It was down for the 11th consecutive month. The reading was also much lower than a Reuters poll forecast of a 4.3% decline.
On a month-on-month basis, household spending unexpectedly fell 2.1%, compared with a Reuters poll estimate of a 0.4% rise.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
Shares of Nvidia have risen 280% over the past year thanks to surging sales of its chips that power artificial intelligence applications.
However, the Silicon Valley company isn't alone in the AI-fueled rally. Investors are also ploughing their money into companies buying these chips, amid expectations that AI will help improve productivity and profits.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read about the Nvidia customers whose stock is rallying.
— Ganesh Rao
2023 marked a strong run in stocks — and markets are still running hot so far this year.
The S&P 500 spiked around 24% in 2023, recovering from a bear market in 2022. Stocks around the world also made gains, with the the FTSE All World Ex U.S. index jumping 16.2% in 2023.
CNBC Pro trawled through Goldman's analyst research as well as latest global conviction lists, to find stocks that made significant gains in 2023, but still have more than 30% potential upside in 2024, based on the bank's latest price targets.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Oil prices edged lower Thursday, giving up some of the previous session's gains.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for April lost 20 cents, or 0.25%, to settle at $78.93 a barrel. May Brent futures shed 21 cents, or 0.25%, to $82.77 a barrel.
U.S. crude and the global benchmark gained more than 1% on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress that interest rates have likely peaked and are expected to come down this year, although the central bank is taking a cautious approach given an uncertain economic outlook.
In a second day of testimony, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday that the Fed is "not far" from the point of cutting rates, so long as inflation moves sustainably at 2%.
Powell's testimony before Congress provided the oil market with an adrenaline rush, but his cautious approach on rates ultimately dented traders' enthusiasm, Tamas Varga, an analyst at broker PVM, wrote Thursday.
— Spencer Kimball
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said inflation is nearing the point where officials would feel comfortable about cutting interest rates.
"We're waiting to become more confident that inflation is moving sustainably at 2%. When we do get that confidence, and we're not far from it, it will be appropriate to begin to dial back the level of restriction," Powell said Thursday during testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
He noted that cuts would be necessary "so that we don't, you know, drive the economy into recession rather than normalizing policy as the economy gets back to normal."
—Jeff Cox
Cleveland Federal Reserve President worries more about cutting rates too quickly than keeping them elevated for too long.
In a speech Thursday, the central bank official called reducing too quickly "the bigger mistake" compared to waiting too long to track the path of inflation. The Fed seeks 2% inflation, and Mester and other officials have said that progress is being made but they're not convinced enough yet to start easing.
"Doing so would undermine all of the good work that has gone into getting inflation to this point," she said in prepared remarks. "We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we begin easing too soon, undo some of the progress we have made on inflation, potentially destabilize inflation expectations, and then have to reverse course. And with labor markets and economic growth both being very solid, we don't need to take that risk."
Mester is a voting member this year of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
—Jeff Cox