Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally stalled; South Korea’s KOSPI index reaches its highest level in two years

Japan’s services producer price index rose 2.1% year-on-year in February, according to official data.

The producer price index in the services sector rose at the same rate in January as well.

The Bank of Japan ended its experiment with negative interest rates last week, along with other unconventional easing tools that were aimed at reviving its economy.

Markets in Japan were trading higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 trading well above the 40,000 mark. The broader Topix index rose 0.08%.

– Shreyashi Sanyal

Regulators in China are urging banks to speed up approvals for new loans to private real estate developers, according to an exclusive report from Reuters.

Reuters said the banking regulator wants faster loan approvals for residential projects under a “whitelist” mechanism as of last week.

The so-called “whitelist” mechanism covers projects by state-backed and private developers that need 1.5 trillion yuan ($207.51 billion) in new financing.

China is seeking to revive home buyer sentiment, and these efforts come as new home prices in China fell for the eighth straight month in February.

— Lim Hui Ji, Reuters

As high inflation rates ease, a group of long-neglected stocks will benefit as consumers settle into a new normal spending pattern, according to HSBC.

The investment bank has named two stocks that will benefit from the emerging trend, one of which is using artificial intelligence to enhance its products. The bank also expects the stock to rise more than 85% over the next 12 months.

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-Ganesh Rao

Chipmaker Nvidia has been in the spotlight over the past year, especially since its shares posted an astronomical 240% rise in 2023, on the back of the AI ​​hype.

However, one investor walks away, saying the stock looks too expensive.

“Even if some say it’s not that expensive because earnings have gone up so much… when you see a stock start tripling over a year and a half to become one of the top stocks on the S&P 500, you need to be careful.” said David Dietz, managing director and chief portfolio strategist at Peapack Private Wealth Management, which has more than $10 billion in assets under management and management.

Instead, he named sectors – and four stocks – to consider buying instead.

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– Amala Balakrishner

Strong U.S. economic data and an AI-fueled rally have buoyed stocks so far this year, and stocks are likely to remain at their current levels through the end of the year, according to UBS.

“Our base scenario is a soft landing in the United States, where economic growth moderates, inflation declines further, and interest rates fall,” the bank wrote. “We expect this to create a supportive backdrop for equity markets. However, we believe a lot of the good news has already been priced in at the index level.”

On the other hand, UBS also warned of near-term market volatility that may materialize as traders adjust their expectations regarding Fed policy easing.

-Lisa Kailai Han

Most investors and Fed planners expect four interest rate cuts this year, but not Morgan Stanley’s global research director.

“We continue to expect early June, followed by reductions at September, November and December meetings,” the bank wrote. “Despite the longer-term rate hike, the longer-term growth forecast is unchanged at 1.8%, suggesting the Fed views recent supply-side factors pushing growth higher as temporary.”

Small stocks may feel pressure if US Treasury yields continue to rise, Morgan Stanley research added.

“While large caps have shown a decline in interest rate sensitivity over the past few months, the correlation of small caps to interest rates remains largely negative, suggesting to us that they are more vulnerable than large caps if US Treasury yields rise,” the bank wrote.

-Lisa Kailai Han

Stocks whose performance is linked to the cryptocurrency’s price rose on Monday.

Shares of MicroStrategy, which trade as an alternative to the price of bitcoin, rose 14%, while Coinbase advanced 9%. The mining sector got a boost from Bitcoin as well, with Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms rising 4% and 5% respectively. CleanSpark rose 11% and Cipher Mining rose 12%.

Bitcoin rose 6% to trade at $69,720.82, according to Coin Metrics. It has been in correction mode over the past week, having reached an all-time high of $73,797.68 on March 14. Last Wednesday, it fell to a low of around $60,800.

– Tanya Machel