56 Mins Ago
Hong Kong tech index jumps as Bilibili leads gains with 8% surge
The Hang Seng tech index jumped 2.6% as tech stocks jumped, including Bilibili which surged 8.3%.
The tech index outperformed the broader Hang Seng index, which rose about 0.6%.
Bilibili reported full-year revenue of 22.53 billion yuan ($3.11 billion) in 2023 and said it was “confident” of revenue growth in 2024.
Other stocks in the sector rose including Baidu which was up 3.7%, while Tencent gained about 1%.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
2 Hours Ago
Strategist says Japan ‘very very close’ to yen intervention
Japan is “very, very close” to intervening in the yen, according to Steven Englander, head of Global G10 FX research and North America macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank.
“I think we’re actually very, very close to them [Japanese authorities] jumping in … they’ve already discussed the political consequences and nobody’s sitting there asking for a weaker yen,” Englander told CNBC.
He said the intervention would be aimed at buying time for Japanese authorities until the U.S. Federal Reserve starts cutting interest rates or for the Bank of Japan to hike its rates a little more.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% on Thursday, trading at around 151.47 against the dollar after falling to its weakest level in 34 years at 151.97 in the previous session. It prompted market speculation the government could potentially intervene to support the currency.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
2 Hours Ago
Australia retail sales rise 0.3% in February
Australian retail sales rose 0.3% month-on-month in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The reading fell short of expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.4% rise. In January, Australian retail sales were up 1.1%.
Retail sales for February were at 35.87 billion Australian dollars ($23.41 billion), up 1.6% year-over-year.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index hit a record high during the session, last up about 1%.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
4 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: Is it time for investors to hedge for a market decline? The pros share their views and strategies
4 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: Now that Nvidia’s launched powerful AI chips, Goldman expects these 3 stocks to get a boost
In the wake of Nvidia‘s launch of powerful new artificial intelligence chips, Goldman Sachs is predicting major growth for memory chips used in AI systems.
The investment bank expects the total addressable market for HBM to expand tenfold to $23 billion by 2026, up from just $2.3 billion in 2022.
The Wall Street bank sees three major memory makers as prime beneficiaries of the booming HBM market. Investors can buy three stocks through concentrated exchange-traded funds or diversified funds.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
7 Hours Ago
Stocks close higher
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both closed higher Wednesday, snapping a three-session losing streak.
The broader market index rose 0.86% to settle at 5,248.49. The 30-stock Dow gained 1.22%, or 477.75 points, and finished at 39,760.08. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the trailing index, coming in with a rise of 0.51% to close at 16,399.52.
— Lisa Kailai Han
8 Hours Ago
Apple underperforming S&P 500 by widest margin since October 2013, according to Bespoke
Waning China sales and a lack of a clear artificial intelligence story have dragged shares of Apple down so far this year.
The “Magnificent Seven” darling, which soared an eye-watering 48% last year, has retreated 12% in 2024. The 200-day performance spread of Apple versus the S&P 500 has not looked this wide since October 2013, according to a tweet from Bespoke Investment Group.
Bespoke noted that the market can rally without Apple, but it is rare. The S&P 500’s median change was a loss of 9.3% during periods when Apple declined over a 200-day trading window.
— Lisa Kailai Han
8 Hours Ago
Oil prices slip on U.S. crude stockpile increase
Crude oil futures fell for a second day Wednesday as U.S. crude stockpiles rose.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery fell 27 cents, or 0.33%, to settle at $81.35 a barrel Wednesday. The Brent contract for May delivery dropped 16 cents, or 0.19%, to $86.09 a barrel.
U.S. commercial crude stockpiles, which exclude the strategic petroleum reserve, rose by 3.2 million barrels for the week ending March 22, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels.
— Spencer Kimball
