Stock Market Today: Live Updates

Chinese real estate stocks rose on Friday, with the CSI 300 real estate sector hitting a nearly four-week high.

The index was up 2.5% in morning trading after rising nearly 6% on Thursday. It has gained nearly 12% over the past four sessions.

Chinese real estate stocks soared in premarket trading after the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance announced measures to increase liquidity available to property developers.

The new measures will remain in effect until the end of 2024.

Hong Kong-listed Country Garden shares rose 1.4%, Logan Group rose 1.6% and CK Asset Holdings rose 1.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Mainland Property Index rose 0.3%, following a 4.3% rise in the previous session.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Inflation in Japan’s capital, Tokyo, fell to 1.6% in January from 2.4% in December.

Tokyo’s inflation rate is widely considered to be a leading indicator of inflation trends across Japan.

Tokyo’s core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, also stood at 1.6%, lower than the 1.9% expected by economists polled by Reuters and also below December’s 2.1%.

The so-called “core-core” inflation rate, which is monitored by the Bank of Japan and excludes fresh food and energy prices, fell to 2.2% from 2.7% in January.

— Lim Huijie

Mark Hefele of UBS said aggressive investors may want to switch away from cash-heavy positions now and invest in bonds before the Federal Reserve starts cutting interest rates. .

Yields on the 100 largest money market funds are still well above 5%, but as the Fed lowers interest rates, those rates will fall. Mr. Hefele, global chief investment officer of wealth management, said UBS expects high-quality medium-duration bonds to return 8.5% in its base case, compared with a return of 4.3% for cash.

Another reason to choose long-term bonds is that in hard landing situations, bonds cushion portfolio losses. In a recession scenario, the stock market could fall by more than 15% on a total return basis, but UBS expects losses would be contained by a 16% rise in bonds.

A portfolio allocated to 60% stocks and 40% bonds would see a decline of only 3% in this situation, according to Höfele.

“Investors holding excess cash will not have sufficient protection in this scenario. Cash ‘will not appreciate and returns relative to interest rates are likely to decline in this scenario,'” he wrote.

–Darla Mercado

The slump in freight traffic is expected to recover in 2024, according to a note from MRB Partners on Thursday, with transportation stocks expected to recover as well, as inventory shortages spur a rebound in manufacturing production. It is said that Increased global trade will also boost stock prices, the researchers said.

Within the industry, MRB recommends air carriers and logistics companies, saying, “The recent rise in air cargo revenue ton-miles bodes well for air cargo stocks’ relative future returns, and their stock prices are attractive.” It has said.

Meanwhile, rail and truck drivers are being held back by “sluggish growth in non-intermodal rail transport, a trend toward subdued prices, and rising relative valuations,” wrote MRB strategist Salvatore Ruscitti.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average is up 2.3% so far this week and 0.34% year-to-date, exactly in line with the S&P 500 this week, but behind the S&P’s 2.6% gain in 2024.

— Scott Schnipper, Michael Bloom

Share prices of major semiconductor stocks pushed down the Nasdaq 100 futures market on Thursday night. The index fell 0.5%, or about 90 points in after-hours trading.

Semiconductor maker Intel reported disappointing first-quarter forecasts, sending shares down about 10%.

Shares of another semiconductor company, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., fell more than 3%, and that of Applied Materials Inc., which provides software and manufacturing equipment, fell 2.3%. Semiconductor company KLA also fell 6% after reporting weaker-than-expected third-quarter results, and Nvidia fell 1.7% as the sector fell.

— Peer Singh

Let’s check out the companies that are becoming a hot topic for after-hours trading.

• T-Mobile — Telecommunications stocks fell 2.9%% after T-Mobile missed fourth-quarter earnings estimates but beat revenue estimates. The company’s earnings per share were $1.67, compared to analyst estimates compiled by LSEG of $1.90 per share. Sales for the period were $20.48 billion, exceeding expectations of $19.64 billion, according to LSEG.
• Intel — Intel’s stock fell nearly 8% in after-hours trading after the company released disappointing first-quarter guidance. Intel expects adjusted earnings of 13 cents per share in the first quarter of 2024, while analysts surveyed by LSEG expected 33 cents per share. The expected sales of $12.2 billion to $13.2 billion were also lower than analysts’ expectations for sales of $14.15 billion for the same period.
• Levi Strauss — Levi Strauss shares fell nearly 1% after the apparel company announced Thursday it would cut at least 10% of the company’s workforce worldwide through restructuring efforts. The company said the job cuts are expected to take place in the first half of 2024. Fourth-quarter results were also released Thursday, and Levi’s adjusted earnings per share beat expectations, but missed revenue expectations.

Read here for the complete list.

— Peer Singh

Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 67 points, or 0.18%, on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures fell about 0.15%. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.4%, led by Intel’s decline after disappointing first-quarter guidance.

— Peer Singh