Week Ahead: Japan GDP; employment data from Australia and Korea; china lending rate decision
Here are some of the key economic data released this week.
Japan will release its GDP on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the economy to grow 2% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier and 0.5% on a quarterly basis.
All eyes will be on the government’s nomination for the next governor of the Bank of Japan, which is also expected to be announced in parliament on Tuesday.
On the same day, the government of Singapore will present its draft budget for the 2023 financial year.
On Wednesday, South Korea will publish its unemployment rate for the month of January after seeing a 3.3% unemployment rate in December. The country will also release revised trade data , The economy saw a trade deficit of $12.7 billion in the previous month.
Trade data for Japan will also be released on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters are expecting to see exports rise by 0.8% and imports by 18.4%.
Australia’s unemployment rate to be released on Thursday will be a key factor for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s path forward. A Reuters poll showed economists were forecasting to see a 3.5% unemployment rate.
Hong Kong will also release its latest population projections for 2022 on this day, a key indicator of the impact of its tighter COVID regulations and the passage of a draconian national security law that resulted in many people leaving the financial hub.
The central bank of the Philippines is also scheduled to announce its benchmark interest rate decision on Thursday. , Banco Central ng Pilipinas is expected to raise its rates from 0.5% to 6.0%.
China’s housing price index for January is also expected to be released on the same day.
Globally, Munich Security Conference begins on Friday in German , Where officials will hold talks until Sunday, nearly a year after Russia launched its war on Ukraine.
– Jihye Li
Moody’s downgrades outlook on some Adani group companies
Moody’s on Friday downgraded its outlook for four Adani group companies, the rating agency said in a notice.
It cut its outlook for Adani Green Energy Restricted Group, Adani Transmission Step-One and Adani Electricity Mumbai as well as Adani Green Energy to negative from stable.
“These rating actions follow a significant and rapid decline in the market equity values of Adani group companies,” Moody’s said.
The agency said the report highlighted “governance concerns at the group”.
Meanwhile, Moody’s retained outlook at existing for four other Adani group companies including Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Adani International Container Terminal.
– Jihye Li
SoftBank branch cuts up to 95 jobs in China joint venture: Reuters
Arm, the China joint venture of SoftBank’s chip technology firm, cut up to 95 jobs last week on a challenging business outlook for the year, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Arm China had about 700 employees before the recent layoffs, the report said, adding that there were no job cuts last year despite cutting up to 15% of its global workforce last year.
The latest moves come as SoftBank looks to publicly list Arm later this year.
– Jihye Li
Fri, Feb 10 20233:21 PM EST
All eyes on next week’s inflation data
Looking ahead to next week, investors are already gearing up to read the latest Consumer Price Index to see if inflation has cooled off once again.
The January reading for the index, which follows the prices of a broad basket of commodities as a gauge of inflation, is due on Tuesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast a 0.4% increase in headline CPI on a monthly basis and a 6.2% increase from the prior year.
“Next week is really about one thing, and that one thing is the CPI,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments.
Market observers also expect the CPI reading to help guide the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates. The central bank last implemented an interest rate hike of 25 basis points, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that inflation is starting to come down, but has a ways to go.
Emmanuel Cau, an analyst at Barclays, said inflation data will be a market catalyst going forward.
“More than the rhetoric of central banks, we think it is the inflation data that will determine the direction of travel for markets from here,” he said in a note to clients on Friday.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about what to expect in the coming week here.
— Alex Harring
Fri, Feb 10 202311:21 AM EST
Alphabet’s market capitalization decreased by about $ 165 billion in two days
It’s been a rough week for Google-parent Alphabet, as the company’s recent moves into AI have failed to impress investors. The stock is down nearly 9% year to date, on pace for its biggest weekly decline since November.
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Tough week for Alphabet
In the last two days, the company’s market cap has lost about $ 165 billion.
“While the near-term move may be higher and Alphabet will have a very strong hold in the AI race (the former ‘stock ticking in the market’), it’s hard to imagine this overhang going away any time soon as chatbots and AI open up. “Some questions are difficult to answer,” Goldman Sachs traders said in a note Friday.
– Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom
Fri, Feb 10 202310:14 AM EST
Consumer outlook improves in February, though inflation outlook is up too
Consumer sentiment rose in February, according to closely watched gauges, but so did short-term inflation expectations.
An initial reading for the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment was 66.4 for the month, up from 64.9 in January and ahead of the Dow Jones’ expectation of 65.1. The current situation index rose to 72.6 from 68.4 in January, while the future expectations index declined to 62.3 from 62.7.
On the inflation side, one-year inflation expectations rose to 4.2% from 3.9% in January. However, the five-year outlook was unchanged at 2.9%.
—Jeff Cox
Fri, Feb 10 20233:55 PM EST
WTI had its strongest week since October
WTI closed on Friday with its best week since October.
It gained 8.63% this week, the strongest week since October 7, when WTI was up 16.54%. It was also its first positive week in three weeks.
WTI closed up 2.13% at $79.72 and hit a session’s high of $80.33. This was the highest level since January 30, when it was trading at a high of $80.49.
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WTI
– Gina Francola, Hakyung Kim
Source: www.cnbc.com
