China’s retail sales in November show a significant miss
China’s industrial production grew 2.2% in November, after growing 5% in October, according to official data. That’s lower than expected for a 3.6% growth in a Reuters survey.
Retail sales fell 5.9% year-on-year, more than expected from a 3.7% drop in a Reuters survey and a 0.5% drop the previous month.
— Jihy Lee
JPMorgan expects Asian markets to end the week on a cautious note following the Fed’s rate hike
JPMorgan expects markets in the Asia-Pacific region to end the week on a cautious note following the Federal Reserve’s 50 basis point interest rate hike.
“Given the reaction of the US market after the FOMC meeting, we expect Asian markets to finish the week on a more cautious note,” Tai Hui, the company’s chief Asia-Pacific strategist, said in a note.
Tai added that weaker inflationary pressures are needed before the Fed’s aggressive stance fades, while the region may be more optimistic about China’s expected reopening.
“The medium-term outlook of China’s economic reopening and the resilience of domestic demand in Asia could be a bright spot as the US and Europe face more growth challenges,” Tai said. “We would need more weak inflation numbers if the Fed is to tone down its aggressive behavior.”
— Jihy Lee
South Korea’s revised trade data shows a slightly smaller trade deficit
South Korea’s revised trade data for November was flat, official data from the Bank of Korea showed.
Imports grew 2.7% while exports fell 14%, in line with the previous month’s figures, resulting in a trade deficit of $6.99 billion, slightly less than the previous month’s $7.01 billion.
Import prices rose by 14.2% compared to a year ago, after growing 19.8% last month. Export prices rose 8.6% in November compared to a year ago, after rising 13.7% in October.
— Jihy Lee
Japan’s trade data beat estimates, reporting a larger-than-expected trade deficit
Japan’s exports and imports for November grew more than expected year-on-year, official data showed.
Exports for the month were up 20%, beating expectations of 19.8% in a Reuters survey. Imports rose 30.3%, also above expectations of 27% in a Reuters poll.
This resulted in a larger-than-expected trade deficit of 2.02 trillion yen ($14.91 billion) after posting 2.16 trillion yen ($15.96 billion) in the previous month.
— Jihy Lee
CNBC Pro: Missed China’s Reopening Rally? Bank of America calls global stocks to ride the second leg
Investors will have a second chance to join the stock market rally after China announced an easing of Covid-19 restrictions, Bank of America said.
The bank named more than 10 stocks after finding “green shoots of recovery in high-frequency data” pointing to rising earnings among companies exporting to China.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesha Rao
Australia unemployment rate in line with expectations
Australia’s unemployment rate for November remained at 3.5% year on year, in line with expectations from a Reuters poll and flat from the previous month.
Official data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics showed that the employment rate also remained at 66.7% and the employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.4%.
The number of hours worked per month rose to 1.89 billion.
— Jihy Lee
Fed announces rate hike of 50 points
The Fed announced it would raise interest rates by 50 basis points, ending the pattern of 75 point hikes of recent months.
Before this move, the Fed had raised rates by 75 basis points in its last four meetings. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.
The 50 basis point increase was widely expected prior to the meeting.
It is the final policy decision expected from the central bank in 2022.
— Alex Harring
Powell wants “substantially more evidence” that inflation is cooling
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the recent positive signs for inflation are not enough for the central bank to ease interest rate hikes.
“Substantially more evidence will be needed to be confident that inflation is on a sustained downward path,” Powell said at his post-meeting press conference.
The comments came as the Fed raised its benchmark rate by another half a percentage point and signaled that at least three-quarters of a point increase was still to come. The decision also comes a day after the consumer price index was just 0.1% higher in November, an indication that inflation may have peaked.
However, Powell said inflation remains a problem.
“Price pressure remains evident across a broad range of goods and services,” Powell added.
—Jeff Cox
