New Zealand interest rate hikes, inflation data

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) reported that Singapore’s core inflation rate on an annual basis dropped to 5.1% from 0.2% in October, after seeing the same index at 5.3% in September.

The latest consumer price index for October is down 5.3% from a Reuters poll forecast.

The rate of inflation for all items eased to 6.7% year-on-year in October after clocking a rate of 7.5% in September.

The easing was due to a marginal increase in prices of goods and services as well as gas and electricity, MTI said.

“Prices of energy and food commodities have declined from year-ago highs, but remain high given supply constraints,” the ministry said in a statement.

-Lee Ying Shan

Malaysia-listed shares were little changed as the country’s political impasse continued and local media reported that Malaysia’s King, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, would make a decision without giving a time frame.

The benchmark KLCI index was down 0.09% after two negative sessions.

Among the index’s heavyweights, Genting Malaysia fell 2.33% after reporting its third-quarter earnings, and Top Glove also fell 1.1% – while Nestle rose 0.28% and CIMB 0.18%

Malaysian Ringgit The US Dollar strengthened slightly in the morning session and was last held at 4.5690.

– Jihye Li

Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Adrian Orr said the bank’s only goal is to get the official cash rate down to a point where inflation can be moderated.

Orr’s comments come after the central bank delivered its biggest-ever rate hike of 75 basis points.

“Our core inflation rate is very high,” Orr told a press conference, adding that the central bank is “far down the path of a tightening cycle.”

In a separate press release shortly after the decision, the RBNZ said, “Committee members agreed that there is a need for further tightening of monetary conditions

-Lee Ying Shan

shares of BYD Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway listed in Hong Kong traded 2.64% lower after it announced it would cut its stake in the Chinese electric vehicle maker.

According to HKEX filings, the company sold 3.2 million shares worth about 630 million Hong Kong dollars ($80.6 million), reducing its holding from 16.28% to 15.99%, the filing showed.

Separately, the company also announced that it would raise prices for some of its EV models, according to Reuters.

– Jihye Li

Xiaomi The third quarter of 2022 is expected to see a decline in revenue, according to Refinitiv poll estimates.

The company is expected to see a 9.66% decline in revenue to 70.52 billion yuan ($9.87 billion) for the July to September quarter, compared with 78.06 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Daiwa Capital Markets wrote in a note that the expected decline is likely due to “tepid smartphone sales” as well as a weak macro environment and consumer sentiment.

Xiaomi shares fell as much as 1.72% in morning trading ahead of the release, and ended nearly 1% lower.

-Lee Ying Shan

The New Zealand dollar strengthened against the dollar at 0.6192 after the central bank raised rates by 75 basis points, its biggest gain on record.

NZD last traded at 0.6170 against the dollar and the NZX 50 index in New Zealand fell 0.8%.

The New Zealand 10-year Treasury yield briefly rose to 4.305% shortly after the decision, and last traded at 4.235%. Yields move inversely to prices, and one basis point is equal to 0.01%.

-Lee Ying Shan

Electric vehicle batteries are gaining “critical importance” amid the energy transition, according to Goldman Sachs.

The investment bank named two top stocks for plays in the EV battery sector, which offer an upside of nearly 70%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Weizen Tan

Singapore’s economy is forecast to grow by about 3.5% in 2022, according to a forecast by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, citing a softening of external demand following Europe’s energy shortages and China’s continuing COVID-related restrictions.

The figure is a narrower estimate from its previous estimated range of between 3% and 4% — and reflects 4.1% annual growth from the third quarter and 1.1% growth from the previous quarter.

The ministry also said that it sees the country’s 2023 GDP growth in the range of 0.5% to 2.5%.

– Jihye Li

Electric vehicles are rapidly gaining traction, especially in China, the world’s largest EV market.

But UBS believes that autonomous driving will be a bigger megatrend than electrification – with a market size of around $100 billion by 2030 in China alone.

Here’s how investors can play this megatrend, according to UBS.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

Xavier Ong

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its official cash rate by 75 basis points, the biggest increase on record, to 4.25%.

The decision was in line with analysts’ expectations, according to a Reuters poll.

This is the ninth consecutive increase since the RBNZ began its first rate hike cycle in October 2021, five of which were 50 basis point increases.

New Zealand’s inflation currently stands at 7.2%, well below a three-decade high.

-Lee Ying Shan

Investors should take advantage of the boom in Chinese tech stocks to move into smaller and less established companies, according to Eva Li, head of Greater China Equities at UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment office.

“Under the current regulation, second tier players will do better than top players. Use this opportunity to turn around second tier companies,” he told CNBC’s “Street Science Asia.”

Additionally, Tech Giants Consider “Macro Recovery” [proxies]And the path to an eventual full reopening “is going to be up and down, it’s choppy,” she said.

“We’re getting there eventually but it takes time,” she said.

Abigail Ng

Stocks rose more than 1% on Tuesday, along with all three major averages, as Wall Street bet that interest rate hikes and inflation would linger through year-end. The S&P 500 also closed at levels not seen since September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 397.82 points, or 1.18%, to close at 34,098.10. The Nasdaq Composite also rose 1.36% to 11.174.41.

The S&P 500 rose 1.36% to close at 4,003.58, its first close above the 4,000 level since September.

-Carmen Renicke

Nineteen stocks in the S&P 500 hit 52-week highs so far on Tuesday, and 16 of them (84%) also hit all-time highs. Three of the 19 (TRV, MRK, IBM) are also in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and two of them are at all-time highs:

• General Parts Company (GPC), highest since 1948 IPO
• O’Reilly Auto (ORLY), at all-time high since 1993 IPO
• TJX Cos. (TJX), 1987 IPO all-time high
• General Mills (GIS), highest level in history since 1927
• Monster Beverage (MNST), all-time high for Nasdaq listing of predecessor in 1992
• PepsiCo (PEP), all-time high, after Pepsi-Cola’s merger with Frito-Lay in 1965
• Marathon Petroleum (MPC), all-time high return from Marathon Oil in 2011
• Aflac Inc. (AFL), all-time back in 1973 via CNBC Data History
• Arthur J Gallagher (AJG), the highest ever for a 1984 IPO
• Globe Life (GL), the highest it has ever been on data from its predecessors in 1980
• MetLife (MET), all-time high return for going public in 2000
• All-time high of Progressive (PGR), 1971 IPO
• Travelers (TRV), spin-off from City came back in 2002
• Gilead Sciences (GILD), highest since April 2020
• Merck & Co. (MRK), at an all-time high in CNBC history beginning in 1978
• PACCAR (PCAR), at all-time high for 1971 IPO
• Quanta Services (PWR), all-time high IPO of 1998
• Snap-on (SNA), highest since June 2021
• International Business Machines (IBM), highest since February 2020

The S&P 500 hit two 52-week lows early Tuesday:

• Tesla (TSLA), lowest since November 2020
• Medtronic (MDT), lowest since March 2020

No comments.

– Scott Schnipper and Christopher Hayes