Stock Market Today: Live Updates

Aozora Bank shares fell to eight-month lows after the Japanese bank warned of a net loss for the fiscal year due to its exposure to U.S. commercial real estate loans.

“The U.S. office market continues to face adverse conditions due to rising U.S. interest rates and the shift to remote work accelerated by COVID-19, coupled with extremely low liquidity,” the bank said in a profit warning Thursday. “There is,” he said.

“We expect office transactions to gradually pick up and price discovery to eventually improve on the back of the expected return-to-office movement and a lull in US interest rate rises, although this could take another year. Our view is that it will take a phase or two for the market to stabilize,” the bank added.

Aozora shares fell as much as 21.5% to 2,557 yen (about $17.41), the lowest closing price since May 31st.

— Clement Tan

Caixin’s China Manufacturing PMI stood at 50.8 in January and remained at 50.8 in December, according to Thursday’s announcement. This was higher than the median forecast of 50.6 among economists polled by Reuters. The 50 point mark separates expansion from contraction.

This is the third consecutive year of monthly increases in Chinese factory activity, widening the gap with official data that shows patchy growth in the world’s second-largest economy and highlights the need for policy support.

The country’s official manufacturing PMI stood at 49.2 in January, the fourth straight month of decline, compared to 49 in December, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

Read the full article for more information.

— Clement Tan

According to the data, South Korea’s exports increased for the first time in 21 months.

South Korea’s exports last month totaled $54.69 billion, an 18% increase from the same month last year, significantly higher than December’s 5% increase. It also exceeded the Reuters poll’s forecast (17.8% rise).

Exports in January saw the largest increase since May 2022.

South Korea’s exports have been increasing since October after a year of stagnation.

Imports fell 7.8% in January, after falling 10.8% in December, the data showed. A Reuters poll of economists had predicted a 7.6% decline. This was the lowest pace since March 2023.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

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

• QUALCOMM — Qualcomm stock fell 2% even as the semiconductor maker reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Adjusted earnings of $2.75 per share beat the LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) consensus estimate of $2.37 per share. Adjusted sales were $9.92 billion, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $9.52 billion.
• Align Technology — Shares soared 10% after Align Technology reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations for revenue and bottom line. The orthodontic company reported adjusted earnings of $2.42 per share on revenue of $957 million. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected earnings of $2.18 per share and sales of $934 million. Align also issued a rosy outlook for first-quarter earnings.
• Wolfspeed — Wolfspeed stock fell nearly 2% after the semiconductor maker announced weak earnings guidance for its fiscal third quarter. Wolfspeed has estimated revenue of $185 million to $215 million, but analysts polled by FactSet are looking for revenue of $222.6 million. In the most recent quarter, the company’s losses were smaller than expected and sales exceeded expectations.

Read the full list here.

— Sarah Min

A total of 214,000 jobless claims are expected for the week ending January 27, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones. This is on par with the previous week, when 214,000 people filed for unemployment insurance.

Data is expected to be released Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

— Sarah Min

Expectations for a rate cut were dampened on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was unlikely to cut rates in March.

Markets are currently still pricing in a 36% chance that the central bank will cut interest rates in March, down from a 40.4% chance a day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Meanwhile, the probability of a quarter-point rate cut in May is 58%, up from 54% on Tuesday.

— Sarah Min

S&P 500 futures opened little changed Wednesday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.05% and 0.15%, respectively.

— Sarah Min