Hong Kong mulls dropping outdoor mask rules: Report
Fitch expects home prices in Australia and China to decline in 2023
Fitch Ratings expects home prices in Australia to see a significant drop of between 7% to 10% next year, it said in its latest outlook report.
The agency also predicts that China’s home prices will fall by 1% to 3% next year.
“We expect prices to decline further in 2023 before bottoming out but mortgage performance to only modestly deteriorate, in the face of economic headwinds,” Tracy Wan of Fitch Ratings said in the report.
However, home prices in Japan could buck the trend to rise by 2% to 4% in 2023, the report said. Australia’s prices are forecast to rise in 2024.
– Jihye Lee
Japan’s economy contracted less than expected in third quarter
Japan’s economy saw an annualized quarterly contraction of 0.8% in the third quarter, with the revised gross domestic product reading beating expectations in a Reuters survey for a 1.1% contraction.
The government’s first preliminary estimate released in November was a 1.2% decline.
The nation also reported a 64.1 billion yen ($469.3 million) deficit in its unadjusted current account balance, government data showed. The reading significantly missed estimates for a surplus of 623.4 billion yen in a separate Reuters poll.
– Jihye Lee
Australia’s trade surplus larger than expected in October
Australia’s trade surplus for October came in at 12.2 billion Australian dollars ($8.19 billion), slightly larger than expected, official data showed.
Economists polled by Reuters predicted a print of 12.1 billion Australian dollars, expecting a further drop than reported – after the economy saw a trade surplus of 12.4 billion Australian dollars.
Exports fell 0.9%, and imports declined 0.7%.
— Abigail Ng
Stocks close mostly lower
Stocks closed mostly lower Wednesday, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.19% to close at 3,933.92.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat, or 1.58 points higher, to finish the session at 33,597.92. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.51% to end at 10,958.55.
— Samantha Subin
CNBC Pro: Bank of America says these two global chip stocks could rise by 75% on EV car sales
A shortage of semiconductors during a boom in electric-vehicle sales could help raise profits at a handful of chip makers, according to Bank of America.
The Wall Street bank predicted that two chip stocks could see their share prices rise by more than 75% on the back of that trend.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Pending economic data could launch a rally into next year, says Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon
Don’t be surprised if economic data coming out over the next week kicks off a rally into the end of the year and potentially 2023, according to Andrew Slimmon, Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s senior portfolio manager.
The key period of data releases begins Friday with the producer price index, followed by November’s consumer price index and another likely rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week.
“The last…
Read More: Hong Kong stocks rise nearly 3% after reports say city is considering