China markets inch higher to clock nine straight days of gains as investors digest property price data – CNBC

Consumer prices in Singapore rose at the slowest pace in more than two years in January, supported by lower fuel and housing costs.

Data shown The CPI increase rate was 2.9%, the slowest increase since September 2021.

Core CPI, which excludes accommodation and private transportation prices, rose 3.1% year-on-year in January, lower than economists expected.

Recreational spending cooled to 3.3% month-on-month, indicating consumers are tightening their wallets following the Goods and Services Tax hike and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s tough fiscal situation.

Inflation remained high, but fell short of the central bank’s forecast of 2.5% to 3.5% in 2024.

The Straits Times Index fell 1.1% in afternoon trading.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose 2.8% by afternoon trading after the company announced a $1 billion share buyback program.

StanChart also reports on 2023 Pretax profit was $5.09 billion, an increase of approximately 18% from the same period last year.

The bank makes most of its revenue in Asia.

In a statement, the company said: “We increased our full-year dividend by 50% and announced a new $1 billion share buyback, bringing total dividends to shareholders from January 2022 to $5.5 billion.” said.

The bank also reported an $850 million impairment charge stemming from its stake in Chinese lender Bohai Bank.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

It was announced that the decline in commercial housing sales prices in China has narrowed compared to the previous month. National Statistics Office data.

According to official data, the sales prices of newly built commercial houses in first-tier cities fell by 0.3% month-on-month in January, with the rate of decline narrowing by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

Prices continued to fall from last year, dropping 0.5% from the same month last year and 0.4 points from the previous month.

January’s figures come after the country’s property market was in turmoil, with new home prices recording their worst fall in nearly nine years late last year.

China’s CSI 300 index rose 0.2% and is on track for its ninth consecutive session of gains if it continues to rise through the end of the trading day.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The Korean won depreciated against the US dollar on Friday, a day after the Bank of Korea kept interest rates unchanged.

The won fell by 0.2%. The Bank of Korea kept its policy interest rate unchanged at 3.5% on Thursday, as widely expected.

Goldman Sachs said Thursday that the central bank could be the first to cut interest rates.

Analysts at Commerzbank said: “Divided opinions within the board about the direction of interest rates could also increase volatility. Two directors are also scheduled to be replaced. “The power relationship may change,” he said.

South Korean stocks rose and the Kospi rose 0.5% after Nvidia’s blockbuster financial results helped boost semiconductor stocks globally.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

New Zealand retail sales have fallen for the eighth consecutive quarter, the company said. official data on friday.

Total retail sales fell 1.9% in the December quarter, according to data released by Stats NZ.YoY comparison Retail sales decreased by 4.1% in the December quarter.

“Over the past two years, the continued decline in retail activity has been marked by declines across most industries in the December quarter,” Stats NZ corporate finance statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

The largest retail declines were in auto and parts retail (down 2.5%), food and beverage services (down 2.4%), and fuel retail (down 3.6%).

The only industry with an increase in retail activity was pharmaceutical and other store-based retail, which increased by 0.3%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Many stocks that supply Nvidia are likely to benefit from the AI ​​boom as the US semiconductor giant reported another impressive quarterly result.

The acceleration of AI trends means that their network of suppliers will directly or indirectly benefit from the growth.

CNBC has selected companies that are suppliers to Nvidia and could benefit from the AI ​​growth story.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

The closing prices of the major indexes are as follows.

— Peer Singh

Oil futures rose on Thursday amid signs of tightening in global markets and the geopolitical outlook in the Middle East remained uncertain.

West Texas Intermediate’s April contract rose 70 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $78.61 a barrel. The April Brent contract added 64 cents, or 0.77%, to settle at $83.67 per barrel.

UBS strategist Giovanni Staunovo said the price premium for first-month futures contracts in subsequent months had risen in recent weeks.

Staunovo said in a note to clients on Thursday that a premium for immediate delivery versus later delivery is typically a sign of tightening oil markets.

While the United States works toward a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the geopolitical outlook for the Middle East remains uncertain, with tensions escalating along the Israel-Lebanon border and the Red Sea.

— Spencer Kimball

Stocks tied to the price of Bitcoin rose on Thursday, trying to recoup losses from the previous session, when Bitcoin and crypto stocks fell in anticipation of the release of the minutes of the latest Fed meeting.

Coinbase and MicroStrategy were each up 5% in late afternoon trading, while the biggest mining stocks, Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms, were up 8% and 4%, respectively.

Bitcoin rose more than 1%. Other cryptocurrencies posted even bigger gains, supported by stock market gains following Nvidia’s strong results and the optimistic tone of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes.

“Markets were disappointed with January’s decision, which forced us to cut interest rates and make significant revisions to our 2024 forecasts, all of which can be found in the Fed’s minutes,” Joel Krueger, market strategist at LMAX Group, told CNBC. “It was woven in toward the goal,” he said. “The balance of risk was tilted toward the kind of reaction we’re seeing today, which means nothing worse could happen in the market yesterday.”

— Tanaya Machel