Japanese inflation, Australian retail sales

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average hit a 33-year high on Tuesday, driven mainly by tech stocks. The index hit an intraday high of 33,969.17, its highest level since March 1990.

Chip-related stocks were the top gainers in the Nikkei average, following gains in U.S. rivals Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

Semiconductor company Tokyo Electron and chip equipment supplier Advantest rose 4.87% and 8.36%, respectively.

Video game company Nintendo was also among the best performers, rising 4.7% amid news that the company may release a new console this year.

South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics forecast a 35% decline in operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2023, significantly lower than expected.

Samsung expects operating profit to be 2.8 trillion Korean won ($2.13 billion) for the October-December period, down 35% from the same period last year, when the company announced operating profit of 4.31 trillion won. Then he announced. Operating profit for the previous quarter was 2.43 trillion won.

The profit forecast was well below LSEG’s SmartEstimate of 3.7 trillion won, which consistently puts more weight on more accurate analyst forecasts.

The company said in a statement that sales for the fourth quarter are likely to be 67 trillion won, down 4.9% from the same period last year.

— Sheila Chan

The headline inflation rate in Japan’s capital, Tokyo, slowed to 2.4% in December from 2.6% the previous month.

Inflation has fallen for the second month in a row and is at its lowest level in 18 months.

Tokyo’s core inflation rate (net of fresh food prices) was unchanged at 2.1% in December, in line with expectations.

— Lim Huijie

Nvidia is an investor favorite when it comes to artificial intelligence.

But other technology companies are also keen to expand their capabilities in this area, and one strategist says one is undervalued by the market.

“But if there’s a downside, if we see more weakness from what we saw in the first half of this year, keep building your position because we’re a quality stock with a fortress balance sheet.” he said.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Tan Weizhen

European internet stocks are on track to rise in 2024 thanks to improving fundamentals and lower interest rates, according to Morgan Stanley.

Analysts at Wall Street banks said they were “positive about the sector,” citing customer growth, corporate cost discipline and valuations supported by lower interest rates.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about investment banking stock picks here.

— Ganesh Rao

U.S. crude oil fell more than 4% on Monday after Saudi Arabia cut prices for key oil products, renewing concerns that global demand is weakening.

West Texas Intermediate futures for February contract fell $3.04, or 4.12%, to settle at $70.77. Brent futures for March contract fell $2.64, or 3.35%, to $76.12.

The sell-off was triggered by Saudi Aramco cutting the price of Arab Light crude oil for Asian customers by $2 a barrel.

Bob Yawger, energy futures strategist at Mizuho, ​​said Saudi Arabia is trying to protect market share in the face of record U.S. production and cheap barrels from Iran and Russia.

“Obviously they’re hitting the panic button a little bit,” Yoerger told CNBC.

“We’re getting closer and closer to where we are in 2020, where we’re trying to regain market share by cutting everything down to the bare essentials and creating price competition,” he said.

— Spencer Kimball

Consumer inflation expectations continued to trend lower in December, with the outlook for the year ahead at the lowest level since January 2021, according to a New York Fed survey released Monday.

According to the central bank’s survey of consumer expectations, expectations for the next year were 3%, down from 3.4% last month. The three-year outlook fell from 3% to 2.6%, and the five-year outlook fell to 2.5%, down 0.2 percentage points from November.

Although the outlook for food costs and rent has declined, the outlook for gasoline remains unchanged at 4.5%. Forecasts for household spending fell by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to 5%.

—Jeff Cox

NVIDIA stock soared more than 4% and traded near all-time highs after announcing three new AI chips aimed at running AI at home. Stock prices also hit their highest day since August.

The new graphics processing units, known as the RTX 4060 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and RTX 4080 Super, are priced between $599 and $999. Although graphics cards are primarily designed for gaming, they can also power AI applications and run them on your PC or laptop.

These chips will also comply with export regulations to China.

— Samantha Subin, Kif Leswing

Cryptocurrency stocks rose Monday afternoon as Bitcoin prices rose to their highest since April 2022.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rose 3%, while fellow Bitcoin trading services Block and Robinhood rose 3% and 5%, respectively. The rise in mining stocks further expanded. Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms each grew 8%. CleanSpark and Iris Energy both increased 6%.

Bitcoin rose more than 6% on Monday as BlackRock, Grayscale and other potential Bitcoin ETF issuers filed final updates with the Securities and Exchange Commission as investors say approval is likely. We have submitted a final update that includes important fee disclosures that will increase confidence.

— Tanaya Machel