New Zealand’s Auckland Airport passenger numbers hit 74% of pre-pandemic levels in November
New Zealand’s Auckland Airport said its total passenger numbers for November reached 74% of the levels seen in the financial year to June 2019, or the last full year unaffected by the pandemic, according to an airport statement. Monthly Traffic Update.
International travelers were 67% of pre-pandemic levels, with most of the recovered overseas trips being short-haul flights from Australia and the Pacific Islands, the release said.
Demand for routes between New Zealand and North America has recovered to 86% of pre-pandemic levels, including two additional destinations in Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth) and New York.
– Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: These 6 Low-Credit Global Stocks Will Do Better, Bernstein Says
Rising interest rates have major implications for companies with large amounts of debt, as they experience higher costs of borrowing.
As interest rates continue to rise, analysts at Bernstein think they should outperform loans with lower credit exposure and higher quality.
The investment bank named a handful of global low-debt stocks as Outperform with investment-grade credit ratings.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Ganesh Rao
Zip shares reverse after initial rally
An Australian “Buy Now, Pay Later” company Zip That was followed by a short rally followed by a fall of more than 10% Quarterly results.
Zipp traded 15% lower, a sharp reversal from its previous gains of more than 10% after posting 12% revenue growth.
“Monthly cash burn continues to decelerate and is expected to improve,” the company said. It said the current cash and cash flow position is “sufficient to see the company generate positive cash flow” and expects to deliver positive cash EBITDA in the first half of fiscal 2024.
Ahead of the week: PMIs, Australia and Singapore inflation reports, South Korea GDP
Here are some of the Asia-Pacific economic events that investors will be watching closely this week.
Stock markets in China and Taiwan remain closed until they resume trading on January 30.
On Tuesday, the focus will be on regional purchasing managers’ index readings for Japan and Australia, while most markets will be closed to observe the Lunar New Year. — Except for Australia, Japan and Indonesia.
Inflation reports will be in focus on Wednesday as Australia and New Zealand release consumer price index readings for the final quarter of 2022. Singapore will release its inflation report in December.
Hong Kong’s market is set to resume trading on Thursday.
Fourth-quarter GDP for South Korea and the Philippines will be released Thursday, while the Bank of Japan will release its brief comments at its latest monetary policy meeting in January. Japan announces its services producer price index on Thursday.
Japan’s key CPI readings for the capital Tokyo will be a barometer of where monetary policy is heading.
Australia’s producer price index and trade data will be closely watched indicators ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting in the first week of February.
– Jihye Lee
Australia’s business conditions worsened last month: NAB survey
National Australia Bank’s monthly business survey showed business conditions worsened for December, down 12 points, down 20 points from November’s print.
The survey reflects that Deteriorating trade conditionsProfitability and employment, NAB said.
“The key message from the December survey is that growth has slowed significantly in late 2022, while price and procurement cost pressures have peaked,” said NAB Chief Economist Alan Astor.
Meanwhile, business confidence rose 3 points to -1 in December, an improved reading from the -4 points seen in November.
– Jihye Lee
Japan’s headline factory data shows second-month contraction
January’s au Jibun Bank Flash Japan manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was unchanged for a second straight month at 48.9, below the 50-mark that separates contraction and growth from the previous month.
Reading signaled ” Collaborative strong decline in health [of] Japanese manufacturing sector from October 2020,” S&P Global said.
au Jibun Bank Flash Composite Issue Index rose to 50.8 in January, slightly higher than the 49.7 seen in December.
Flash services business activity rose further with a reading of 52.4, higher than December’s 51.1.
– Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Wall Street is excited about Chinese tech — and wants a mega-cap stock
After more than 2 years of regulatory crackdowns and a pandemic-induced slump, Chinese tech names are back on Wall Street’s radar, with one stock in particular standing out as a top pick for many.
Pro subscribers can Read more here.
– Javier Ong
The Journal report says the Fed will discuss next week when to end hikes
Federal Reserve officials are expected to approve another cut in interest rate hikes next week, while debating when to end hikes altogether. The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets rates from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1, with markets Almost 100% probability price A quarter point increase in the central bank’s benchmark rate. More importantly, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Friday He sees a 0.25 percentage point increase As a preferred activity for the upcoming meeting.
Waller, however, said he doesn’t think the Fed has tightened yet, and several central bankers have backed that view in recent days.
The Journal report, citing public statements by policymakers, said slowing the pace of hikes could provide an opportunity to assess what impact the increases so far are having on the economy. The series of fare hikes starting in March 2022 has increased by 4.25 percentage points.
According to CME Group data, the market is currently pricing in a quarter-point hike over the next two meetings, assuming no action, and then a half-point cut by the end of 2023.
However, many authorities Including Governor Lael Brainard and New York Fed President John Williams have used the phrase “stay tuned” to describe the future policy path.
– Jeff Cox
The Nasdaq has repeatedly made gains as tech stocks rise
The Nasdaq Composite rose more than 2.2% in midday trading Monday, lifted by shares of battered technology stocks.
The move put the tech-heavy index on pace for a consecutive day of gains of more than 2%. The The index rose 2.66% on Friday.
Semiconductor stocks rose and helped lift the index. Tesla And AppleMeanwhile, they rose 7.7% and 3.2% respectively, raising hopes that China’s reopening will boost their businesses. Western Digital and Advanced Micro Devices Each rose about 8% Qualcomm And Nvidia Up about 7%.
The information technology sector, the best-performing S&P 500 sector, gained 2.7%. This was due to gains in the chip sector. Communication services added 1.9%, boosted by Netflix, Meta platforms, letters And Competition team.
– Samantha Subin
El-Erian says the Fed should increase by 50 basis points, calling the small increase ‘misguided’
Rising inflation may seem like a lot in the past, but moving to a 25 basis point hike at the next Federal Reserve policy meeting is a “mistake,” says Mohamed El-Erian, the Alliance’s chief economic adviser.
He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, “‘I’m in a very small camp, they don’t think they should go below 25 basis points, they should do 50.” And they should try to tighten fiscal conditions because I think we still have an inflationary problem.”
Inflation has shifted from goods to the services sector, but could well pick up if energy prices rise as China reopens, he said.
El-Erian expects inflation to plateau at 4%. This, he said, would put the central bank in a difficult position whether to continue squeezing the economy to reach 2% or ensure that level in the future.
“It was probably the best decision,” he said of the latter.
– Samantha Subin
According to Morgan Stanley, an earnings slowdown is imminent
According to Morgan Stanley equity strategist Michael Wilson, this year’s earnings slowdown is imminent.
“Our view remains unchanged as we expect the trajectory of earnings in the US to disappoint both consensus expectations and current estimates,” he said in a note to clients on Sunday.
Some positive developments have emerged in recent weeks — such as China’s continued opening up and falling natural gas prices in Europe — and have contributed to some investors looking more optimistic about market prospects.
Still, Wilson advises investors to stay on top of volatility in the stock markets, noting that price action is a major influence on this year’s rally.
“This year’s rally has been led by low quality and high volume low stocks,” he said. “It saw a strong move in defensive-related cyclical stocks.”
Wilson bases his predictions on marginal deception, and he believes the case for this is growing. Many industries are already facing revenue stagnation, as well as inventory bloat, with less productive input.
“It’s simply a matter of time and scale,” Wilson said. “We advise investors to focus on the fundamentals and ignore the false signals and false reflections in this bear market mirror.”
– Hakyung Kim
