RBA decision, wages in Japan, measures in China | Top Vip News

Mainland China and Hong Kong stock benchmarks rose 2% on Tuesday, led by healthcare and technology stocks, respectively.

This comes after Chinese regulators took steps to calm a recent sell-off in markets, including a statement from the country’s securities and regulatory commission That said, “I would guide institutional investors… to enter the market with greater efforts.”

The biggest booster on the CSI 300 was Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, which soared 10%, while the biggest gainer on the Hang Seng Index was tech giant Alibaba, whose shares rose 5.9%.

There are opportunities in the banking sector despite increased volatility and concerns about heavy losses at some lenders, according to fund manager Cole Smead.

The Smead Capital portfolio manager said he was bullish on two banks even as the KBW regional banking index lost more than 7% last week.

One of Smead’s picks is a US regional bank, while the other is a former global systemically important bank.

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—Ganesh Rao

The Reserve Bank of Australia will release its policy statement at the end of its two-day meeting on Tuesday.

Analysts expect the RBA to keep its official cash rate steady at 4.35%, with no expectation of a moderate turnaround.

While inflation for the fourth quarter of 2023 cooled to a two-year low of 4.1%, it still remained well above the RBA’s target range of 2-3%, reinforcing bets on a hold.

“While a dovish turn is unlikely at this meeting, we expect changes in tone to address further traction on high rates, progress towards the CPI target and confirmation that rates have peaked” wrote Helen Qiao, China and Asia economist at BofA Global Research in a client note.

The S&P/ASX 200 extended its losses from Monday, falling 0.9%, while the Australian dollar fell 0.06% against the US dollar.

—Shreyashi Sanyal

Goldman said in a January report that investors should focus on the long-term beneficiaries of AI, as the short-term ones are already well known and their performance already reflects the “consensus view.”

Here are some names in your basket of long-term AI beneficiaries and how much their basic income could increase thanks to AI.

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—Weizhen Tan

Household spending in Japan fell more than expected in December, falling 2.5% year-on-year compared with the 2.1% estimated by economists polled by Reuters.

The drop was smaller than the 2.9% drop seen in November, with average monthly household spending at 329,518 yen ($2,217.11).

The average monthly income per household stood at 1,099,805 yen, falling 4.4% in nominal terms and 7.2% in real terms compared to the previous year.

These figures influence the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy considerations, as the Bank of Japan has said that sustainable wage increases are one of the prerequisites for easing its ultra-loose monetary policy.

-Lim Hui Jie

Oil prices rose on Monday after US retaliatory strikes against Iranian forces and allied militias over the weekend.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for March rose 50 cents, or 0.69%, to settle at $72.78 a barrel. The April Brent contract gained 66 cents, or 0.85%, to settle at $77.99 a barrel.

The United States launched airstrikes Friday night against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and allied militias in Iraq and Syria. The air attacks, which reached more than 85 objectivesIt came in response to the deaths of three American soldiers in a drone strike by militants allied with Iran.

—Spencer Kimball

Traders have slightly tempered their expectations for interest rate cuts following warning statements from Federal Reserve officials.

The probability of a long-awaited cut in March fell to just 14.5% on Monday morning, according to the CME Group report. FedWatch indicator. The expectation had been above 80% just two weeks ago.

For the full year, the market went from expecting six cuts to five and even assigned a probability of around 44.6% that the total could fall to four.

Those measures follow an interview that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave to “60 Minutes.” In the interview broadcast Sunday, Powell not only cast doubt on a March cut but also endorsed the view, expressed in the central bank’s December “dot plot,” of just three cuts this year.

—Jeff Cox

Boeing shares fell about 1.7% on Monday after the company said it would rework 50 undelivered 737 Max planes following the discovery of poorly drilled holes in some fuselages. Rework could cause short-term delivery delays.

The news comes amid a period of intense scrutiny for the company following the fallout from the mid-flight Alaska Airlines crash of a 737 Max 9.

The stock is down 21% in 2024.

-Hakyung Kim

UBS said investors should stick to quality stocks, especially in US technology. The Wall Street firm, which anticipates a soft landing scenario in its base case, says these companies can weather a slowdown in economic growth.

“In equities, we continue to view quality stocks as a core holding for investors. History shows that they tend to outperform in periods of slowing economic growth, as we expect in our base case,” reads a note from the Monday from the firm’s chief investment office for global wealth management.

“We maintain a preferential stance on the US IT sector, home to many quality stocks. By also complementing core holdings in quality stocks with tactical exposure to small caps, investors should be well positioned to capture more advantages if markets continue to rise”, the note continues.

– Sara Min