China Caixin PMI, Hong Kong PMI, Singapore Retail Sales

Despite further public promises over the weekend to stabilize China’s financial markets, mainland Chinese stocks are set to fall for the sixth consecutive day, as small-cap stocks are affected.

The benchmark CSI300, which includes the biggest blue-chip stocks traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell as much as 2.1%, before netting losses and falling 0.8% by mid-afternoon. It has remained at a level not seen since late January 2019.

The CSI1000 index of small-cap A-stock counters was down more than 5% in mid-afternoon trading, after dropping nearly 9% in the first half.

However, the most liquid Chinese offshore listed stocks in Hong Kong were different from the onshore listed stocks. After falling as much as 1.5%, the H-share index reversed its decline and rose 0.9%.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission on Sunday announced measures to protect investor interests, including cracking down on illegal activities such as malicious short selling, insider trading and fraud, as onshore markets fell as much as 3% before cutting losses on Friday. I promised to do it.

Reductions in the cash reserves that mainland banks must maintain will begin on Monday, likely easing the cash crunch in the final week of trading before the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

— Clement Tan

Mitsui Fudosan’s stock price rose as much as 11.8% in afternoon trading, hitting a record high of 4,100 yen.

The Financial Times reported that US activist investment firm Elliott Management has asked Japan’s largest real estate group to launch a 1 trillion yen ($6.74 billion) share buyback plan.

The report, citing people familiar with both Elliott and Mitsui, said Elliott also asked Mitsui to sell its $3.6 billion stake in Oriental Land, which operates Tokyo Disneyland.

Oriental Land’s stock price fell 3.2%. According to LSEG data, Mitsui & Co. currently owns 5.4% of Oriental Land, making it Oriental’s second-largest shareholder.

The broader Topix rose 0.7% and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.6%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Thailand’s headline inflation rate in January fell by 1.11% from a year earlier, much lower than the 0.82% decline expected by economists polled by Reuters.

This figure also compares to the previous month’s 0.83% decline.

Thailand’s core inflation rate rose by 0.52% from a year earlier, slightly higher than Reuters forecast for a 0.57% rise.

—Li Yingshan

Shares in India’s Paytm fell 10% on Monday, with the decline widening following a regulatory crackdown that barred the digital payments provider from accepting new deposits.

The 10% drop will become a daily trading cap for Indian stock exchanges, effective from Monday onwards.

The stock price was last valued at Rs 438.5, just shy of the all-time low of Rs 438.35 set in November 2022.

—Li Yingshan

China’s service sector activity expanded in January for the 13th consecutive month, although the growth rate was slightly lower than in December, according to a Caixin private survey.

The Services Purchasing Managers Index rose to 52.7 compared to 52.9 the previous month.

Caixin noted that “the growth rate of new orders has slowed markedly” in the sector, but employment rose slightly for the second consecutive month and companies were generally optimistic about the outlook for service activity in the 12 months. .

— Lim Huijie

Separate private surveys showed that the slowdown in Australian business activity eased, while Japan’s services activity continued to expand in January.

The Australian Judo Bank Services PMI stood at 49.1 in January, up from 47.1 in December. “The rate of decline in services activity was only modest in January as demand stabilized, supported by a moderating decline in export business,” the study said.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in that sector, while below 50 indicates contraction.

au Jibun Bank’s service industry activity index was 53.1 in January, up from 51.5 in December, and is still in expansion territory.

According to the survey, overseas demand increased for the first time in five months, and the influx of new businesses increased, making the growth rate the highest since September.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Business activity in Hong Kong contracted slightly in January after expanding for two consecutive months.

According to S&P Global, Hong Kong’s PMI stood at 49.9, down from 51.3 recorded in December.

S&P Global noted that production continued to expand as companies filled existing orders, but this was due to a decline in new business demand in January.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in that sector, while below 50 indicates contraction.

— Lim Huijie

Citi has updated its list of “high-conviction” stocks from global markets, including the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

These are analyst-selected “high-conviction, differentiated stock recommendations to generate alpha.”

“We identified catalysts for outperformance and selected liquid stocks in which investors can build positions,” Citi said in a Feb. 1 report.

We would like to introduce the names of four of them.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Tan Weizhen

Ongoing political tensions, still-high inflation levels and uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates are raising questions about which sectors and stocks will outperform going forward.

For Kevin Teng, CEO of Wrise Wealth Management Singapore, which serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the top three stocks stand out as positives at the moment.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amara Balakrishna

Meta shares soared more than 21% on Friday, with the communications services sector up 4.5%, leading the S&P 500’s rise.

The next big winner was consumer, up 2.5%. Amazon and Etsy stocks were the top gainers, rising nearly 8% and 5%, respectively.

Meanwhile, real estate fell 1.6%, making it the worst-performing sector on the day.

Consumer sales had the biggest increase week-to-date, rising 3.9%.

— Ha-Kyung Kim

Stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 hitting a new all-time high.

The broader market index rose 1.1% to end at 4,958.61, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 134.58 points, or 0.4%, to 38,654.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.74% to close at 15,628.95.

— Brian Evans

The University of Michigan just announced that the two-month increase in consumer confidence in December and January (17.7 points) was the largest since the end of the Gulf War in March 1991 (20.9 points). Ta. Coalition forces defeated Iraq and restored Kuwait’s independence.

Consumer sentiment in January was 79, the highest since July 2021, which ended at 81.2. The latest survey shows inflation expectations for next year at 2.9%, the lowest level since December 2020 of 2.5%.

The monthly Consumer Sentiment Index is published in a consumer survey conducted by the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francola

The U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, easily beating economists’ expectations. Economists compiled by Dow Jones had predicted 185,000 copies.

The report also includes inflation data in the form of higher-than-expected wage increases. Wages increased by 4.5% from the previous year, exceeding expectations of 4.1%.

This comes after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested this week that a March interest rate cut was unlikely.

— Fred Imbert