Japanese stocks snapped a seven-day winning streak with Hong Kong falling to a two-month low

The Shanghai Composite fell 1.52% on Tuesday, leading losses in Asia and weighing on financial stocks.

Refinitiv data showed that banks topped the index losses, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declining by 2.76% and incurring the largest loss in terms of index points.

Other SSE losers included the A-share listings of China Life Insurance and Agricultural Bank of China, which fell 4.13% and 3.05%, respectively. The Bank of China also sank more than 3%.

This comes a day after China kept its key loan interest rate unchanged at 3.65%.

Dirk Hoerig, CEO of German cloud-based e-commerce solutions company Commercetools, said that China’s e-commerce market is growing at a pace that cannot be ignored.

“I think what we can’t ignore is that the Chinese e-commerce market is growing and [is estimated to be worth as much as $3.3 trillion] by 2025.”

His comments come as Commercetools looks to expand into China despite geopolitical challenges. He said customers are mostly European and American brands and retailers, and the Chinese market is crucial to their business.

“We live in a volatile economy, and consumer demands are constantly increasing and that means the pace of change will not slow down,” said Horig.

He added that total commerce technology spending is set to grow by more than 10% year-on-year within the next three years and “this gives us strong confidence looking into the future.”

– Sheila Chiang

New Zealand’s central bank is expected to raise its benchmark policy rates to 5.5% when it meets on Tuesday, according to a Reuters poll of 25 economists.

Twenty-one of the economists surveyed expected an uptick, while the rest expected a pause. In the same Reuters poll, the average expected rate hike is 25 basis points.

Tuesday’s rate hike will be the RBNZ’s 12th since October 2021.

The RBNZ previously surprised investors with a 50 basis point hike to 5.25% in March, when most economists expected a 25 basis point increase.

– Lim Hwi J

Consumer confidence in South Korea rose in May to its highest level in a year. Data from the Bank of Korea It showed a reading of 98 compared to 95.1 a month ago.

The central bank said it is expected to ease inflation to 3.5 percent, down from 3.7 percent in the previous month.

Reuters reported “It is too early to say that inflation expectations are stabilizing, with uncertainty remaining over the general price hike and other factors,” said a BoK official.

– Lim Hwi Ji

Japan’s manufacturing sector posted expansion for the first time in seven months, according to Bank au Jibun’s flash estimates.

The report showed that the manufacturing PMI came in at 50.8 in May, a reversal from 49.5 recorded in April, “indicating the first improvement in operating conditions since October 2022.” A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that level indicates contraction.

The bank indicated that there were renewed increases in both production and new orders, with both variables rising at the strongest rate in 13 months. Manufacturers indicated that supply chain issues are showing signs of improvement.

Japan’s services PMI came in at 56.3 in May, up from 55.4 in April and expanding at the strongest rate since the series began. The composite PMI rose to 54.9, up from 52.9 in April.

– Lim Hwi Ji

Hong Kong inflation jumped 2.1% in April from a year earlier, just above the 2% expected by economists polled by Reuters. The inflation rate in April was also higher than the 1.7% recorded in March.

City government spokesperson He said the prices of energy-related items continued to rise sharply year on year, as did the prices of clothing and shoes.

Electricity, gas and water prices jumped 17.8%, while clothing and footwear prices jumped 6.4%.

Takeaway and takeout prices also rose 4.2%, the spokesperson said, while “price pressures on other key components remained broadly under control”.

Going forward, Hong Kong expects that domestic price pressures may increase along with the economic recovery. Headline inflation is likely to pick up for the rest of 2023, but it will remain “largely moderate”.

– Lim Hwi Ji

“Decisions must be made,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says in his meeting on the debt ceiling with President Joe Biden, set to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET.

“We should have action” on parts of a final deal to raise the debt ceiling, McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol, adding, “I know where I think people should be able to go.”

With just 10 days until the earliest Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US would risk default, Biden and McCarthy are under intense pressure to reach a settlement deal. If and when they do, it will still take at least a week to turn the handshake deal into legislation and pass it through the House and Senate.

He is currently scheduled to leave the House for the Memorial Day recess this weekend, but McCarthy said he would postpone it if necessary, in order to trigger a vote to raise the debt ceiling. “We will stay and do our job,” he said.

Christina Wilkie

Shares of several global commercial real estate companies are set to decline, according to Chief Investment Officer Patrick Armstrong.

Armstrong, who manages equity strategy at Plurimi Wealth Management, disclosed that he had sold four global commercial real estate companies short.

“It’s an expensive company, in my opinion, that faces a very toxic environment,” he said of one of his shorts.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Ganesh Rao

Philip Ripman manages the $1 billion Storebrand Global Solutions fund, with a focus on sustainability. But in addition to green energy stocks, he also invests in chipmakers, cybersecurity stocks, pharmaceuticals, and more.

His strategy appears to have paid off in the long run: his fund ranks first in 10-year annual returns (15%) on Morningstar’s list of mega global equity funds.

Here are three tips for sustainable investing, including how to play the topic of renewable energy, according to Reibman.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Wizen tan

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Chairman Neel Kashkari on Monday indicated that a rate hike against the pause in June is a “close call.” But he added that even if the central bank decides against another hike, it should not be seen as a sign of the future.

“Right now, it’s a close call either way… If we have to skip in June, it doesn’t mean we’re done with our tightening cycle, to me it means we get more information,” he said on CNBC. squawk box”.

He called the economy “robust” and noted that “we may have to go north of 6%” for the federal funds rate from the current target range of 5%-5.25% if inflation shows no further signs of abating.

– Jeff Cox

Cryptocurrencies were flat at the start of the week as movements in stocks and bond yields continued to push and pull cryptocurrency prices.

Bitcoin fell 8.7% in May and is on track for its worst month since November, according to Coin Metrics. Ether was down for the month by about 5% and heading for its worst month since December.

“Cryptocurrencies continue to be the best performing asset this year compared to gold, stocks, bonds and DXY,” Bernstein analyst Gautam Chogani said in a note on Monday. “We still believe in our structural thesis about the ‘new crypto cycle’, but it is never a straight road… These boring markets, we believe, offer the best risk returns in the long run.”

Tanaya Machel, Gina Francola

Shares of Micron Technology fell more than 3% on news that China will restrict some sales of memory chip makers’ products.

The country’s Cyberspace Administration has banned operators of “critical information infrastructure” from purchasing products from the company after Micron’s products failed a network security review.

The company poses a “significant security risk” to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain and affects [its] “National Security,” said the statement.

The news lifted Chinese chip makers, including Hong Kong-listed Hua Hong Semiconductor and SMIC. Prices for some chipmakers, including Qualcomm, Lam Research, Broadcom and Applied Materials, fell nearly 1% each.

– Samantha Sobin