Fri, Mar 22 2024 2:29 AM EDT
Emerging market tech opportunity can be found in South Korea and Taiwan, UBS says
It’s time to diversify technology and AI exposure, and invest outside the U.S., according to Alejo Czerwonko of UBS Global Wealth Management.
“The bulk of the emerging market tech opportunity can be found in places like [South] Korea and Taiwan,” he told CNBC, adding that these markets are “global tech champions.”
For global tech firms, UBS expects revenue growth of 20% year-over-year in 2024, he said. That number may go up to 70% per year over the next five years for AI-specific companies globally, he added.
The Taiwan Weighted index hit an all-time high on Friday as investors were optimistic about the country’s tech firms in the face of booming AI and semiconductor demand.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
Thu, Mar 21 2024 11:56 PM EDT
Yuan slides to four-month low, China’s state banks reportedly intervene
A staff member counts Chinese Yuan at a bank’s personal finance business service area in Haian, East China’s Jiangsu province, Sept 15, 2023.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images
China’s onshore and offshore yuan slipped to its weakest levels against the greenback since November 2023, with both metrics breaching the 7.2 level.
The onshore yuan last traded at 7.225, while the offshore yuan stood at 7.254.
Reuters reported that China’s state banks were swapping dollars for yuan in a bid to arrest the slide.
— Lim Hui Jie, Reuters
Thu, Mar 21 2024 11:43 PM EDT
Li Auto plunges over 9% to lead decline in EVs, weighs down Hong Kong stocks
Hong Kong-listed shares of Li Auto plunged as much as 9.2% on Friday, weighing down the broader Hang Seng index.
The Chinese electric vehicle firm cut its deliveries outlook for the first quarter. It now expects to deliver between 76,000 and 78,000 vehicles, down from 100,000 to 103,000 units forecast earlier.
The Hang Seng index fell 2.7%, while the Hang Seng Tech index dropped 3.8%.
Other EV makers also declined — Xpeng dropped 8.3% and Nio fell 3%.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
Thu, Mar 21 2024 11:09 PM EDT
China’s CSRC launches onsite inspections into mutual funds companies: Reuters
China’s securities regulator has reportedly launched inspections into mutual fund companies, according to a Reuters report.
Reuters, citing local newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, said the inspections were conducted by local branches of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
These inspections covered daily operations, training, and Chinese Communist Party building, the newspaper said. It did not name the asset managers that were inspected.
Last week, China’s state run Global Times reported that the CSRC had vowed to build a “textbook-style” supervision model to regulate China’s $3.8 trillion mutual fund industry.
On Feb. 7, the CSRC appointed markets veteran Wu Qing — known as the “Broker Butcher” for his crackdown on traders — as chairman.
Fri, Mar 22 2024 12:21 AM EDT
CNBC Pro: ‘Substantially affected by AI’: RBC names 3 lesser-known stocks as beneficiaries
The rising demand for generative artificial intelligence has led to a surge in shares of many AI-linked companies like chipmaker Nvidia and ChatGPT backer Microsoft. Now, RBC Capital Markets has identified three lesser-known companies poised to cash in on the AI boom in a big way.
RBC noted that major cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft and Google are packing data centers — facilities that host computer servers — with tens of thousands of power-hungry AI chips, driving a surge in demand for infrastructure like cooling systems and electrical equipment.
To meet that demand, one of the companies identified by RBC is setting up facilities dubbed “AI factories.”
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Fri, Mar 22 2024 12:21 AM EDT
CNBC Pro: Want to play red hot gold prices? Buy these 3 stocks, says top hedge fund manager
Thu, Mar 21 2024 10:29 PM EDT
Most Apple suppliers in Asia fall after DOJ lawsuit; Foxconn climbs
Customers experience an iPhone15 at an Apple store in Shanghai, China, October 7, 2023.
CostFoto | Getty Images
Apple suppliers in Asia largely fell after the U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple in an antitrust case on Thursday, saying that the iPhone maker has a monopoly over the phone market that harmed consumers, developers, and rival companies.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, which supplies the chips that power the iPhone, were down 0.77%.
South Korean electronics firms Samsung Electronics and LG Display lost 1.13% and 2.41% respectively. Both firms produce OLED screens for the iPhone.
However, iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry in Taiwan, jumped 3.16%.
Thu, Mar 21 2024 9:06 PM EDT
Taiwan central bank unexpectedly raises interest rate to highest level since 2008
Taiwan’s central bank raised its main policy rate from 1.875% to 2%, its highest level since 2008, in a surprise move on Thursday, according to an official statement.
The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) said “inflation has stayed at a relatively higher level since 2021 and that a proposed electricity rate hike might be implemented in April this year, inflation expectations might shift upwards.”
In a Reuters poll, 25 out of 26 economists said the central bank would keep the rate unchanged.
“The decision reinforced CBC’s commitment in containing inflation,” Commerzbank said, while adding that it now expects the central bank to take a cautious approach.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
Thu, Mar 21 2024 8:59 PM EDT
South Korea’s producer prices climb at fastest pace since April 2023
South Korea’s producer price index rose 1.5% year on year in February, higher than the 1.3% in January and at its fastest rate since April 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the PPI rose 0.5%, faster than January’s 0.3% gain.
In South Korea, the PPI measures monthly variations in the prices of goods shipped by industrial producers within the domestic market.
— Lim Hui Jie
Thu, Mar 21 2024 8:06 PM EDT
Japan inflation accelerates in February, snapping three months of declines
Japan’s headline inflation rate accelerated to 2.8% in February, climbing from the 2.2% in January and ending a streak of three straight months declines.
The core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — also climbed to 2.8% from 2%, in line with expectations from a Reuters poll of economists.
The so called “core-core” inflation metric, which strips out prices of both fresh food and energy and is watched by the Bank of Japan, came in at 3.2%, up from 2.6% in January.
— Lim Hui Jie
Thu, Mar 21 2024 1:20 PM EDT
Reddit opens at $47 a share
The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Reddit, Inc. (NYSE: RDDT) to celebrate its initial public offering. To honor the occasion, Snoo, rings the Opening Bell®.
NYSE
Reddit popped 38% on Thursday to open at $47 a share in its New York Stock Exchange debut.
The social media company began trading under the ticket symbol “RDDT” after pricing its IPO at $34 a share on Wednesday. It marks the first major social media company to go public since Pinterest in 2019.
— Samantha Subin, Jonathan Vanian
Thu, Mar 21 2024 11:51 AM EDT
Industrials lead S&P 500’s gain
Thu, Mar 21 2024 10:40 AM EDT
Apple shares slide after DOJ antitrust lawsuit
Apple shares slid 3% after the Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, saying that its iPhone ecosystem is a monopoly that drove its “astronomical valuation” at the expense of consumers, developers and rival phone makers.
Federal antitrust enforcement and 16 attorneys general also say that Apple’s anti-competitive practices extend beyond the iPhone and Apple Watch businesses, citing Apple’s advertising, browser, FaceTime and news offerings.
“Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,” the complaint filed in the District of New Jersey said.
— Kif Leswing, Rohan Goswami