Asia-Pacific markets are mixed to start to the week as Chinese markets come back from a week-long Golden Week holiday.
Investors will be watching inflation readings and trade data out from China and India later this week, as well as a monetary policy decision from Singapore’s central bank.
Japan and South Korea’s markets are closed Monday for a holiday.
This comes after the index notched a five-day losing streak and fell below the 7,000 mark for the first time since March on Friday.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,724, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s last close of 17,485.98.
Hong Kong’s morning session is cancelled, however, after the city raised its typhoon warning to Signal 8 for Typhoon Koinu. The HKEX guidelines state that the morning session will be cancelled if a Signal 8 is not lifted before 9 a.m. local time.
The Hong Kong observatory said that with “departing winds,” it expects to downgrade the Signal 8 warning at 11:40 a.m.
Meanwhile, mainland Chinese markets weakened, with the benchmark CSI 300 index falling about 1% after the Golden Week.
| TICKER | COMPANY | NAME | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .N225 | Nikkei 225 Index | *NIKKEI | 30994.67 | -80.69 | -0.26 |
| .HSI | Hang Seng Index | *HSI | 17485.98 | 0 | 0 |
| .AXJO | S&P/ASX 200 | *ASX 200 | 6967.4 | 13.2 | 0.19 |
| .SSEC | Shanghai | *SHANGHAI | 3088.94 | -21.54 | -0.69 |
| .KS11 | KOSPI Index | *KOSPI | 2408.73 | 5.13 | 0.21 |
| .FTFCNBCA | CNBC 100 ASIA IDX | *CNBC 100 | 8006.06 | -6.55 | -0.08 |
On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes rallied after the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data and a pop in Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.87%, while the S&P 500 added 1.18%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted the largest gains, climbing 1.6%.
Traders will be watching the market reaction however, after Palestinian militants launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel over the weekend.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report
China sees sales surge in Golden Week but Citi says no ‘upside surprise’
Despite a surge in retail sales in China over the Golden Week holiday, analysts from Citi do not see any “upside surprise.”
“We do not have high expectation on most retailers’ sales in Sep or 3Q23 and are cautious on stocks where market’s expectations are high,” they said.
China’s ministry of commerce reported a 9% year-on-year rise in retail sales of major retail and catering enterprises, but Citi said that this includes the positive impact of two festivals in the week.
Nonetheless, the analysts are still positive on stocks like hotpot chain Haidilao, sportswear company Li Ning and consumer electronics company Haier, citing a sales recovery, low market expectations and more diversified growth.
— Lim Hui Jie
Oil prices jump 4% in wake of Hamas attack on Israel
Oil prices jumped 4% as the Israel-Hamas conflict extended into its third day following a surprise attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Global benchmark Brent traded 4.53% higher at $88.33 a barrel Monday, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 4.69% to $86.63 per barrel.
At dawn on Saturday during a major Jewish holiday, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a multi-pronged infiltration into Israel — by land, sea and air using paragliders. The attack came hours after thousands of rockets were sent from Gaza into Israel.
— Lee Ying Shan
CNBC Pro: How to invest $1 million for the next decade, according to the pros
The next 10 years will be unlike the last two decades for investors, according to investment advisors and wealth managers.
Charles-Henry Monchau, chief investment officer at Swiss private bank Syz, said investors risk making long-term decisions with a “cognitive bias” and urges those investing $1 million over the next decade not to extrapolate too much from recent history.
Jamie Cox, financial planner at Harris Financial Group, believes international stocks will outperform U.S. stocks in the coming decade as rising rates and inflation change market dynamics.
Both share with CNBC Pro their thoughts on how investors with $1 million should invest over the next decade.
— Ganesh Rao
CNBC Pro: Forget the U.S: Pros say another top market looks cheap and offers the ‘best’ opportunities
Attractive returns and the breadth of opportunities are among the many reasons the U.S. has long reigned supreme for investors.
However, according to one strategist, a different market has much better valuations right now.
— Amala Balakrishner
CNBC Pro: Stocks to bet on China’s economic future after the real estate pain ends
China is not heading toward Japan-style stagnation because the government is behind the latest property slump, Yao Yang, dean of an economics department at a top Chinese university, told reporters in late September.
As bold as such a claim sounds, Bernstein took a similar view in a Sept. 29 note titled “The Long-View: ‘Japanification’ of China? — Not really.”
Oil prices climb as Hamas’ attack on Israel hits energy market
Benchmark oil prices were higher on Sunday as stock futures fell, seemingly responding to the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestine.
Brent crude oil.
Global benchmark Brent crude climbed nearly 4% to $87.49, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate added 4% to $86.20.
— Brian Evans
Wall Street adds outbreak of war between Israel and Palestine to list of headwinds
The outbreak of war between Israel and Palestine on Saturday will likely add yet another factor to traders already navigating a difficult market.
Israeli Prime Minister vowed on Saturday to respond in kind to an attack from Palestinian militants, and said Hamas “will pay a price it has never known before.”
The Palestinian militant group Hamas took Israel largely by surprise on Saturday morning, seemingly avoiding raising any suspicions of Israel’s intelligence network. Israel responded with an attack on Gaza on Sunday, further drawing out the conflict and killing hundreds of fighters on both sides.
— Brian Evans
Chances rise of Fed raising rates again by yearend, per the CME FedWatch
30-day fed funds futures pricing data on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange suggest a more than 45% probability that the Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark lending rate by a quarter-point, or perhaps as much as half a point, by the end of its December policy meeting.
On Thursday, the chance of further tightening stood at just 33.1%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The probability is derived from the actions of traders in interest rate futures markets, the CME says.
— Scott Schnipper
Utilities stocks sink as Treasuries become more attractive to investors
The beaten-down utilities sector isn’t seeing any relief. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund is down 1.3% Friday, and has dropped nearly 20% for the year through Thursday.
The sector has been dragged down by energy and power companies AES Corp, NextEra Energy and Eversource Energy. Utilities posted large declines this week and has lost 20% year-to-date, making it this year’s biggest loser so far.
Utilities are seen as bond proxies because of their high dividend yields. The stocks have been getting hit as the high rates in risk-free short-term Treasuries offer an attractive alternative to investors. U.S. Treasury yields rose again Friday, with the 10-year nearing a 16-year high after stronger-than-expected jobs data.
— Pia Singh
Source : CNBC
