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Asia Markets Mixed as China's June Inflation Data Miss Expectations

General view of the financial district of Lujiazui in Pudong district in Shanghai on April 12, 2023.
Hector Retamal | Afp | Getty Images

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Asia-Pacific markets are mixed ahead of key inflation reports this week, including the U.S. consumer price index report due Wednesday and the producer price index on Thursday.

In the region, China's consumer price index was flat in June year-on-year, its lowest level since February 2021. Meanwhile, producer prices fell 5.4% year-on-year, the fastest rate of decline since December 2015.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concluded her visit to Beijing, and said that the talks were "direct" and "productive," putting bilateral ties on "surer footing."

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.61% to close at 32,189.73, extending its losing streak to five days, with the Topix seeing a 0.61% loss to end at 2,243.33.

South Korea's Kospi closed 0.24% lower at 2,520.7, also seeing its fifth straight day of losses, and the Kosdaq saw a loss of 0.8% to end at 860.25.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.54% to 7,004, its lowest level since March 27.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rebounded and climbed 0.58% in its final hour of trade, with mainland Chinese markets also all higher. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.22%, closing at 3,203.7 and snapping a three day losing streak, while the Shenzhen Component rose 0.5% on Monday to end at 10,942.83.

On Friday, U.S. markets closed lower on fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike rates this month, with all three major indexes falling.

The Labor Department's June jobs report showed payrolls increased less than expected, cooling down from May. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 209,000, while the unemployment rate came in at 3.6%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw the largest loss of 0.55%, while the S&P 500 shed 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.13%.

— CNBC's Samantha Subin and Brian Evans contributed to this report

Asia week ahead: China inflation, Bank of Korea rate decision

Key economic releases and an interest rate decision from South Korea is expected this upcoming week.

On Monday, investors will digest key inflation releases from China as well as trade data from Japan for the month of May.

Australia's consumer confidence for the month of July is due on Tuesday as well as new loans and money supply from mainland China for the month of June.

South Korea's unemployment rate for June will be published on Wednesday as well as Japan's producer price index and machinery orders.

India's industrial production and consumer price index will be released as well.

Asian investors will also digest the inflation reports from the U.S. as well as a central bank decision from Canada.

On Thursday, the Bank of Korea's interest rate decision will be closely watched. China's balance of trade for June will also be released.

The week will conclude with Singapore's second quarter gross domestic product results after seeing a quarter-on-quarter contraction in the first quarter of the year.

Japan's industrial production for the month of May will also be published.

— Jihye Lee

Alibaba shares surge as much as 5% amid hopes that regulatory scrutiny is ending

Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares rose as much as 5% in Monday morning trade amid hopes of the years-long scrutiny of its financial arm Ant Group coming to an end.

The stock opened strongly, although it has since pared gains to settle at about 3.2% higher than its Friday closing price.

The 7.12 billion yuan ($985 million) fine handed to Ant Group by Chinese regulators on Friday for violations of laws and regulations looks to mark the end of Beijing's two-year clampdown on its domestic tech companies.

Chinese regulators on Friday said most of the outstanding problems associated with the financial businesses of platform companies have been resolved and that the domestic tech industry will see "normalized supervision."

— Sheila Chiang, Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Barclays names stocks set to gain from A.I. over the medium to long-term

Barclays has named several global stocks that are expected to do well as the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) related services evolves.

The investment bank acknowledged that hardware and infrastructure giants, most notably Nvidia and Microsoft, are currently capturing the immediate economic benefits. Still, over the long term, it could see businesses in the service sector cashing in significantly.

Of the companies Barclays named, analysts expect two stocks to rise by more than 50% over the next 12 months

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

China's producer prices fall further, consumer price remains unchanged

China's producer price index fell further than expected with a decline of 5.4% year-on-year, further than a fall of 5% that economists surveyed by Reuters expected.

Consumer prices remained unchanged year-on-year, widely in line with expectations while the month-on-month reading fell 0.2%.

The onshore Chinese yuan strengthened fractionally and last traded at 7.2194 against the U.S. dollar.

— Jihye Lee

CNBc Pro: As investor focus shifts to EVs, analysts expect these auto stocks to soar

Investors are piling into electric vehicle stocks after the latest Tesla numbers showed it beat expectations for vehicle deliveries.

To see which EV stocks are expected to continue to rise, CNBC Pro screened two ETFs on FactSet: the KraneShares Electric Vehicles & Future Mobility Index ETF and the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF.

The resulting stocks have at least 10% average upside to price target, 10 or more analysts covering the stock, and a buy rating from at least 50% of the analysts.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

CNBC Pro: JPMorgan reveals its 'pecking order' for the second half including these high-yielding global stocks

In a note detailing its outlook for the second half of the year, JPMorgan analysts stated: "Our pecking order for 2H is: bullish on Staples, Utilities, Telecoms and Healthcare, European Energy could hold up well." 

JPMorgan named a raft of European stocks from across the sectors which it said have high yields, strong balance sheets and safe dividends.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lucy Handley

June inflation data will be closely watched by investors in the week ahead

Investors are turning their attention to inflation data in the week ahead, following this week's hot jobs data, to further clarify the path of future monetary policy.

Market participants are hoping next week's release of the June consumer price index on Wednesday, as well as last month's producer price index on Thursday, will show a downward trajectory in inflation after this week's strong ADP data spurred investor fears of further rate hikes ahead.

"CPI is a big number," said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson. "You saw the market reaction, that big decline yesterday and then the market coming back a little bit today, just kind of indicates that there's still a lot of discussion about what the interest rate path is going to be, and what the Fed might do. And so, I think the CPI kind of feeds into that."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Sarah Min

Jobs report shows smallest nonfarm increase since December 2020

Friday's Labor Department report showed 209,000 jobs added in June and marked the smallest increase since December 2020, when nonfarm payrolls lost 268,000 roles.

Elsewhere, labor force participation among those between 25 and 54 increased to 83.5%, the highest level since May 2002. The labor force participation rate among women of prime age rose to 77.8% for the highest level on record dating back to 1948.

— Gian Francolla, Samantha Subin

Energy stocks lead the way higher

The energy sector outperformed during Friday's trading session as oil prices hit a 6-week high.

Brent crude futures and U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude both gained about 2% after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced new output cuts this week. That led the S&P energy sector to rally 2.7% in midday trading.

Schlumberger popped nearly 8% and Halliburton jumped about 7%. Diamondback Energy, Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum all gained nearly 5%.

— Michelle Fox

Health care, materials stocks among biggest S&P 500 losers

Health care and materials stocks are on track to log some of the biggest losses in the S&P 500 for the week.

As of late-afternoon trading, the health care sector is down more than 2.4% for the week. The biggest losers included Align Technology and Merck, last down more than 5%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, Hologic and UnitedHealth were on pace to finish the week 3% lower.

Materials stocks also lagged, pulling the sector down 1.3% for the week, even as sector gained 1.6% on Friday.

The biggest laggards on the sector included Vulcan Materials, Sherwin-Williams and Air Products and Chemicals, last down more than 3%. Martin Marietta sank 4%.

— Samantha Subin

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