Central Bank Rate Decision, South Korea Trade, Australia Unemployment, New Zealand GDP

China’s industrial production for November rose 2.2%After registering a growth of 5% in October, according to official data. This was lower than the 3.6% growth forecast in a Reuters poll.

Retail sales fell 5.9% year-on-year, beating expectations for a 3.7% drop in a Reuters poll and a 0.5% drop in the previous month.

– Jihe Lee

JP Morgan expects markets in the Asia-Pacific region to close cautiously after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 50 basis points.

“Given the US market’s reaction after the FOMC meeting, we expect Asian markets to end the week on a more cautious note,” Tai Hui, the firm’s chief market analyst for the Asia Pacific region, said in a note.

Tay added that a weaker inflation reading is needed before the central bank’s tightening fades, while the region may be more optimistic about China’s expected reopening.

“The medium-term outlook for the reopening of the Chinese economy and the recovery of domestic demand in Asia will be a bright spot as the US and Europe face more growth challenges,” Dai said. “We will need more soft inflation data so the central bank can ease its hawkish way.”

– Jihe Lee

South Korea’s revised trade data for November was flat, Official data Shown from Bank of Korea.

Imports grew 2.7%, while exports fell 14%, in line with the previous month’s readings, resulting in a trade deficit of $6.99bn, slightly lower than the previous month’s $7.01bn.

Import prices rose 14.2% year-on-year after experiencing 19.8% growth in the previous month. Export prices rose 8.6% in November from a year earlier, after growing 13.7% in October.

– Jihe Lee

Japan’s exports and imports grew more than expected year-over-year in November. Official data showed.

Exports rose 20% in the month, beating expectations in a Reuters poll of 19.8%. Imports rose 30.3 percent in a Reuters poll, beating expectations of 27 percent.

The result was a larger-than-expected trade deficit of 2.02 trillion yen ($14.91 billion) after 2.16 trillion yen ($15.96 billion) was recorded in the previous month.

– Jihe Lee

According to Bank of America, investors will get a second chance to take part in the stock market rally after China announced the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

The bank named more than 10 stocks after spotting “green nests of recovery in high-frequency data” that indicate rising profits for companies exporting to China.

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– Ganesh Rao

Australia’s unemployment rate for November was 3.5% year-on-year, unchanged from the previous month, in line with expectations in a Reuters poll.

Official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics The labor force participation rate was 66.7% and the employment-population ratio was 64.4%.

Monthly working hours increased to 1.89 billion.

– Jihe Lee

The central bank announced it would raise interest rates by 50 basis points, ending a pattern of 75-point hikes seen in recent months.

Prior to the move, the central bank had raised interest rates by 75 basis points in the last four meetings. A basis point is equal to 0.01%.

A 50 basis point hike was widely expected ahead of the meeting.

This is the final policy decision expected from the central bank in 2022.

– Alex Haring

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the recent positive signs of inflation were not enough to keep the central bank interest rate neutral.

“More evidence will be needed to confirm that inflation is on a sustainable downward path,” Powell said at a press conference after the meeting.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by another half a percentage point and signaled that at least three quarters of hikes would begin. The move came a day after the November consumer price index rose 0.1% in a sign that inflation may have peaked.

However, inflation remains a problem, Powell said.

“Price pressures continue to be evident across a wide range of goods and services,” Powell added.

-Jeff Cox