Asia markets were mixed after the Fed raised interest rates and hints may be over

The State Bank of India told CNBC that the Indian banking system is very robust, given its diverse liability structure and loan book among other factors.

“When we look at the liability structure, it’s quite diversified and more fragmented than what we have in our country. Apart from that, when it comes to loan history too, it’s very well diversified,” the bank’s chairman, Dinesh Kumar Kara, told CNBC. Cherry Kang.

“I would say that the Indian banking system is very resilient,” he said, adding that “Indian regulatory oversight is very strict.”

Khara added that he does not see a contagion effect from the fallout from banks in the US and Europe, noting that many startups in India have begun to turn to Indian banks to keep them from defaulting.

In addition, the SBI expects a “decent growth” trajectory in its loan book on the back of the growth of the Indian economy.

“We expect that in the future, we should have roughly similar trends next year also for the banking system, because the Indian economy is poised for decent growth,” he said.

– Lee Ying Chan

Australia’s trade surplus came to A$15.27 billion ($10.2 billion) in March, up from the A$14.15 billion recorded in February. Government data Show on Thursday.

The reading came in above expectations for a decline to A$12.65 billion in March, according to a Reuters poll.

The country’s bureau of statistics revealed that exports rose 3.8% month-on-month to A$59.3 billion, driven by mineral ores and metals.

Imports rose 2.5% month-over-month to A$44.02 billion, mainly due to non-industrial transport equipment.

– Lim Hwi Ji

Manufacturing activity in China slipped into contraction territory for the first time in three months Caixin Manufacturing PMI It came in at 49.5 in April, below estimates.

The reading also indicates a decline from the 50.0 level in March and reflects lower new order volumes.

“This indicates that China’s economic recovery slowed significantly after Covid-19 infections peaked at the beginning of this year, given that the index reached 51.6 and 50 in February and March on successively”. .

However, companies were confident that demand would pick up later in the year.

“Manufacturers remained very optimistic, with their outlook for future production in April reading well above the long-term average, expressing strong confidence in the recovery of market demand and the implementation of relevant supportive policies,” Wang said.

– Jihe Lee

China’s domestic tourism during Golden Week showed traffic rose 70.8% year-on-year, returning to pre-pandemic levels, Reuters reported.

Goldman Sachs economists said in a note Thursday, “Strong data for the tourism sector over the Labor Day holiday bodes well for a recovery in consumption and services in the coming months, and adds conviction to our forecast for 2023 GDP growth that exceeds consensus.” The company estimates that the Chinese economy will experience full-year growth of 6% in 2023.

Citi’s chief China economist Xiangrong Yu said the price hike is worth watching closely.

“As supply capacity begins to be constrained for certain sectors, we tend to think that further expansion of demand could lead to more employment and inflationary pressure,” he said, noting that China’s recovery so far has been non-inflationary.

HSBC added that more is waiting for Chinese travelers to recover.

“We have been claiming that if you believe the recovery in Chinese travel has materialized, we believe it is only at the beginning,” they wrote in a note on Wednesday.

– Jihe Lee

Currencies in the Asia-Pacific region strengthened against the dollar as the US Federal Reserve signaled a possible end to the interest rate hike cycle.

The offshore Chinese yuan rose 0.3% to 6.900 per dollar Thursday morning as the dollar index fell 0.24% to 101.102.

The Korean won rose 0.6% to 1326.84 against the dollar, and the Japanese yen rose 0.13% to 134.49 against the US dollar. The Australian dollar held steady and the New Zealand dollar also rose 0.24% to 0.6240 against the greenback.

– Jihe Lee

Shares of major Australian banks fell on Thursday after the National Australia Bank missed earnings forecasts for its half-year ending in March.

Revenue was A$10.53 billion ($7 billion), up 19.3% year-on-year, while net profit was A$3.97 billion, an increase of 11.7% over the same period last year. NAB said.

NAB’s revenue missed estimates by 2% and earnings per share missed estimates by 5.61%, according to Refinitiv data. Meanwhile, net profit was up 2.31% from expectations.

NAB shares fell 7.57% on Thursday, while peers Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking were also down 2.84% and 4.24%, respectively. Macquarie Group shares fell 2.22%.

China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI is expected to remain in expansionary territory in April, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

The poll showed that the reading is expected to rise to 50.3 for the month of April after recording 50.0 in March.

This follows disappointing manufacturing PMI data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics over the weekend, falling below the 50 level that separates growth from contraction at 49.2.

– Jihe Lee

The Fed raised interest rates for the 10th time in this tightening cycle, as was widely expected. The central bank also indicated that the campaign may come.

“In determining the extent to which additional policy fixation to bring inflation back to 2 percent over time may be appropriate, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the delays with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and the delayed economic and financial developments,” he said. Federal Reserve in a statement.

The Fed also removed a sentence from the previous announcement, which said, “The Committee expects that some additional firm policy may be appropriate” for the Fed to achieve its 2% inflation target.

For more information, check out CNBC’s Fed Live blog.

Fred Imbert, Jeff Cox

Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management says it’s time to buy some “attack” stocks.

“So I think it’s very risky to own very defensive stocks… I think you want some attack in your portfolio,” Slimmon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.

Explains why and names the stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Wizen tan

Germany’s Volkswagen and BMW are set to report first-quarter earnings later on Thursday.

Using data from FactSet going back five years, CNBC Pro has evaluated how well the automaker’s stock has performed against benchmark indices based on the various results of its quarterly earnings reports.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Ganesh Rao

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the greenback against six other global currencies, fell more than 0.7% to Wednesday’s session low of 101.07. This was the lowest level since April 16.

The move comes as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell answers questions following the central bank’s latest policy decision.

Fred Imbert, Gina Francola

WTI (June) prices were down 3.07%, at $69.46 as of 7:28 AM ET Wednesday. This marks the lowest price level for WTI since March 27, when it traded as low as $69.13.

WTI is down about 9.5% for the week so far, and is on track for its worst week since March 17, when it lost nearly 13%.

The SPDR Energy Sector Fund (XLE) is down 6.6% for the week so far, putting it on track for its worst week since March 17, when it lost 6.85%. Energy groups Halliburton and ExxonMobil have lost 10.4% and 8.4% this week, respectively.

– Hakyung Kim, Gina Francola