one hour ago
The worst stock market in Southeast Asia is UBS’ Top Pick
Thai stocks have been the worst performers in Southeast Asia this year, but UBS says Thailand is its “top pick” in the region. Thailand’s SET fell 0.5% Monday afternoon and is down more than 9% this year.
Kelvin Tai of UBS Global Wealth Management told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that Thailand would be a “huge beneficiary” from boosting tourism from China once China’s labor numbers increase.
However, he said that elections in Thailand are a “potential game-changer,” and companies associated with the monarchy could be set back by a change of government.
– Audrey Wan
5 hours ago
Japan’s core machinery orders fell in March
Japan’s core machinery orders fell 3.9% in March from the previous month, falling more than expected.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the reading to rise by 0.7% on a monthly basis.
Compared to last year, orders for machines also decreased by 3.5%, against expectations for a print increase of 1.4%.
Japanese machinery orders rose 9.8% year-on-year in February.
– Jihe Lee
5 hours ago
China blocks the purchase of Micron products after its security review
The China Cyberspace Administration has banned operators of China’s “critical information infrastructure” from purchasing products from US memory manufacturer Micron.
It comes as the Cyberspace Administration of China said Micron’s products had failed a network security review, citing “potential serious network security issues”.
This, she added, “poses a significant security risk to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain and affects [its] National Security.”
The Cyberspace Administration did not specify which products would be banned or what security issues Micron products had with their release.
Shares of Micron’s South Korean rivals rose Monday morning after the announcement, with SK Hynix up 1.54% and Samsung Electronics up 0.5%.
– Lim Hwi Ji
3 hours ago
China left its one-year and five-year lending rates unchanged
The People’s Bank of China left benchmark lending rates unchanged for the ninth consecutive month.
China left the one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.65% and the five-year loan prime rate unchanged at 4.30%, in line with expectations of economists polled by Reuters.
The Chinese inland yuan fell 0.2% to 7.0205 against the US dollar.
– Jihe Lee
7 hours ago
Bank of America raises year-end target for the S&P 500
Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian raised her year-end target for the S&P 500 to 4,300 from 4,000 Sunday night.
The new target is more than 2% above where the index closed on Friday. Subramanian said in a note that the recent focus on efficiency from the big companies should help make earnings more stable going forward.
For more information on this call and other Wall Street forecasts, check out the CNBC Pro.
– Jesse Pound
7 hours ago
Resume debt suspension negotiations tomorrow, Monday
Federal leaders are expected to continue negotiations on the US debt ceiling on Monday as the country approaches a default.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., are set to meet in person at the White House.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that “hard choices” will have to be made about which notes won’t be repaid if the debt ceiling is not raised, and reiterated her warning that the US could default on its debt as early as June 1,
– Jesse Pound, Ashley Cabot
8 hours ago
Stock futures open slightly lower
Stock futures were lower Sunday night, with Dow futures down about 0.2% and S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures losing about 0.3%.
– Jesse Pound
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