Week Ahead: Asia Pacific PMI, Trade Data, Inflation Readings
Major economic events in Asia-Pacific next week will be dominated by PMI readings in the region.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release official manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI printouts on Saturday. Reuters expects Chinese factory activity to show contraction with a reading of 48.
South Korea is also expected to release its December trade data over the weekend, in which economists polled by Reuters forecast a 10.1% drop from a year ago.
Singapore is expected to release manufacturing PMI readings next week, while S&P Global is expected to release its PMI readings for South Korea, Indonesia and India on Monday.
Inflation figures for the Philippines and Indonesia will also be closely watched, with releases scheduled for Tuesday and Monday respectively.
Japan’s PMI and China’s private services PMI survey will be released on Wednesday. Singapore will release retail sales for November on Thursday as well as South Korea’s unemployment rate for December.
-Jihye Lee
Yamaguchi emerges as candidate for next Bank of Japan governor: Sankei
Former Bank of Japan deputy governor Hirohide Yamaguchi is in the process of becoming a candidate for central bank chief, according to Japanese local media Sankei reportedciting people familiar with the matter.
Yamaguchi, who served as deputy central banker until 2013, has been highly critical of current Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s ultra-dovish monetary policy.
The newspaper added that Yamaguchi would signal a move away from former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic stimulus strategy, also known as “Abenomics”.
Sankei reported that Yamaguchi was attracting attention as current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida moved away from the stimulus-oriented monetary stance, and the appointment of the next central bank chief would become clear next month.
-Jihye Lee
Foreign talent will be less likely to come to Singapore after Hong Kong reopens, says UOB
With Hong Kong reopening, foreign nationals may be less inclined to move to Singapore, said Alvin Liew, senior economist at United Overseas Bank.
“Singapore has benefited from the talent pool that has come here due to the stricter rules in Hong Kong itself,” Liew said, adding that the influx of labor moving to Singapore “could see some slowdown. “now that the city has reopened.
“The talent pool itself might be less inclined to move here,” said the Singapore-based economist.
Liew also added that reopening Hong Kong is a step in the right direction for the region to “get back to business as usual,” Liew said.
Chinese markets will see ‘tactical’ recovery next year, analyst says
Chinese markets are likely to see a “tactical bounce” from a recovery over the coming year, Port Shelter Investment Management said.
“It’s obvious to say that we’re likely to see a tactical rebound,” Richard Harris, the company’s chief executive, told CNBC.
“It will be tactical, because China ultimately has to fit in with the rest of the world,” he said.
Harris expects China’s recovery to take place in the first quarter of the year and sentiment to continue in the second quarter as well.
This recovery also depends on many things currently unknown, such as whether strong stimulus will be injected into the Chinese economy and what will be done about inflation when the economy recovers, he added.
—Lee Ying Shan
New Chinese tech ETF can ‘bring retail liquidity’ to Singapore market: investment firm
The listed company in Singapore CSI Star and ChiNext 50 Index Exchange Traded Fund can bring liquidity from mainland China to Singapore, Ding Chen, CEO of CSOP Asset Management, told CNBC “Squawk Box Asia.”
The company’s ETF listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange on Friday and is a sub-fund of CSOP SG ETF Series I, a Singapore mutual fund, according to the fund’s page.
“Through SGX, Singapore investors and global investors can also access China-listed ETFs,” Ding said, adding that Chinese investors can also invest directly in Singapore ETFs.
Asked about the evolution of the company’s ETF portfolio, Ding said it will “bring more emerging and younger tech companies” into the market.
-Sheila Chiang
South Korean inflation changed in December
South Korea’s consumer price index in December rose 5% on an annualized basis, according to statistics from the Bank of Korea show.
Reading levels continued cooler during the month and remained unchanged from November.
The print is in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters.
-Jihye Lee
Stocks close higher on Thursday
All major averages ended higher on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 345.09 points, or 1.05%. The S&P 500 gained 1.75% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.59% to 10,478.09.
—Tanaya Machel
CNBC Pro: Chip stocks have done poorly this year — but this fund manager is still bullish, naming 2 to buy
Jobless claims rose last week; Claims continue at highest since February
Jobless claims rose last week amid efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and in particular the labor market.
Initial jobless claims totaled $225,000 for the week ended Dec. 21. 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was an increase of 9,000 from the previous week and slightly above the Dow Jones estimate of 223,000.
Longer-term continuing claims, which are a week behind the overall figure, jumped to 1.71 million, an increase of 41,000 to the highest level since early February.
The numbers at this time of year are always loud due to the holidays. Claims not adjusted for seasonal factors jumped 23,146, an increase of 9.3%.
—Jeff Cox
CNBC Pro: Citi names its top biotech stock picks for 2023 — and gives a 73% upside.
Biotechnology is expected to remain a “stock picker’s market” in 2023, according to Citi.
The bank explains how biotech could work based on various economic scenarios and names three top picks for 2023.
CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.
—Weizhen Tan
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