Hong Kong stocks briefly climb 2%; China releases inflation data in line with expectations

Wall Street pros are increasingly sounding the alarm about an impending recession.

As economic growth slows and inflation stays high for longer, how should investors position themselves? Veteran investor Nancy Tengler shares her favorite dividend stocks with CNBC.

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— Zavier Ong

Beijing’s “U-turn” on Covid policies leads to both confusion and optimism, said Steven Lynch, chief executive of the British Chamber of Commerce in China.

‘There’s a lot of optimism and hope for 2023, but there’s huge confusion,’ he told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box Asia,’ describing the overtaking of strict Covid rules as happening. “almost overnight”.

He said there could still be “huge inconsistencies” between local policies and central government rules, and people were worried about getting sick.

“One thing is very clear, Covid is here now. Covid is quite prevalent here in Beijing. And I think that brings a whole new set of challenges to what China is going to face,” he said. declared.

—Abigail from

Chinese inflation is expected to remain below 3% for the next 12 to 18 months, and the central bank is comfortable with that range, according to Jack Siu, chief investment officer for Greater China at Credit Suisse.

“We don’t think the CPI is a problem in China, in fact it’s going to be flat in that 1% to 3% range for the foreseeable future,” he told ‘Street Signs Asia’. CNBC. Inflation soared in many economies, but consumer prices in China remained subdued due to weak demand.

But China should see “a resurgence in consumer activity” over the next six months as people get used to living with the virus after some back and forth in the reopening of the economy, Siu said. .

“In the second quarter, we expect GDP to recover to 6.1% – partly because of base effects, partly because people are living more normally,” he said.

—Abigail from

China’s producer price index fell 1.3% in November from a year ago, extending its decline after losing 1.3% in October and slightly beating estimates of a contraction 1.4% in a Reuters poll.

The country’s consumer price index rose 1.6% in November on an annualized basis, in line with expectations and down from October’s reading of 2.1%.

The onshore and offshore Chinese yuan strengthened and was around 6.94 to the dollar soon after the economic data was released.

— Lee Ying Shan

Some global consumer tech companies could gain as China eases some Covid-19 restrictions, and shares of four companies could rise more than 40%, according to HSBC.

The Asia-focused bank said a faster-than-expected recovery in consumer electronics in the coming months would benefit those companies.

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—Ganesh Rao

South Korea posted a current account surplus of $880 million in October, down from $1.6 billion in September.

Direct investment assets in South Korea rose $2.75 billion from $4.74 billion a month ago. Direct investment liabilities increased from $430 million to $810 million.

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the year, with the exception of July and August. A current account surplus indicates that a country sells more to the world than it buys outside its borders.

— Lee Ying Shan

Stocks closed higher, with the S&P 500 posting its longest losing streak since October.

The S&P added 0.75% to end at 3,963.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 183.56 points, or 0.55%, to settle at 33,781.48, while the Nasdaq Composite rebounded 1.13% to end at 11,082.00.

— Samantha Subin

The cost of financing a home fell for a fourth consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac.

The average weekly rate on a 30-year mortgage is now 6.33%, down from 6.49% last week. Over the past month, the interest rate on these loans has fallen by about 75 basis points: on November 10, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.08%.

Even with the short-term decline, the cost of financing a home loan is up sharply from a year ago. Last year at this time, the average rate for a 30-year mortgage was 3.1%.

Despite the fall in interest rates, demand for mortgages continues to fall. The volume of mortgage applications fell 1.9% last week, compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

— Darla Mercado, Diana Olick

The inversion in the 3-month and 10-year Treasury yield curve is now the deepest since January 2001, at nearly 90 basis points, according to CNBC data. The short end of the curve rose to 4.30% from just 0.05% at the start of the year as traders priced in higher interest rates.

The yield curve inverts when short-term Treasury rates rise above long-term yields. Many economists consider the 2-10-year portion of the yield curve to be more predictive of a potential recession.

Cathie Wood pointed to this part of the yield curve, which is the most inverted since the early 1980s. The popular investor said the bond market was signaling that the Federal Reserve was making a “big mistake” with its rate hikes giantess.

—Yun Li