Asia markets trade mixed as China’s trade surplus beats expectations

China’s exports rose 8.5% year-on-year in April, marking the second straight month of growth after the economy surged to a surprising 14.8% in March. government data showedImports fell by 7.9% for the month.

Economists polled by Reuters expected exports to rise 8% in April, but expected imports to remain flat after falling 1.4% in the previous month.

China’s trade surplus increased to $90.21 billion from $88.2 billion in March. A Reuters poll predicted his $74.3 billion surplus this month.

– Lee Ji Hye

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said he had no preconceived idea of ​​how the planned policy review would affect the bank’s future monetary policy decisions.

Ueda was referring to the announcement after the Bank of Japan announced that it had “decided to conduct a broad-ranging review” of its monetary easing measures after its first monetary policy meeting.

Ueda is said to have told parliament, “While we are reviewing, we will continue to closely monitor financial and price trends, and take necessary policy measures each time we review interest rates.”

Ueda is expected to maintain current BOJ policy, but gradually roll back the ultra-dovish policies of his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda.

The Japanese yen fell slightly against the US dollar to 135.13 on Tuesday morning.

Taiwan’s trade surplus surged to $6.71 billion, the highest level since October 2020. Exports from the island fell short of his April expectations, government data shown on Tuesday.

Exports fell 13.3% year-on-year to $35.96 billion, lower than economists surveyed by Reuters forecasting an 18.5% decline. Meanwhile, imports fell another 20.2% to $29.25 billion, largely unchanged from his 20.1% decline seen in the previous month.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance said in April that exports to all of its major trading partners had fallen except for Japan.

Exports to Japan increased by 19.8%, while exports to mainland China and Hong Kong saw the biggest drop with a 22% decline.

Imports from major trading partners also declined, with imports from the ASEAN region leading the loss, down 26.1% year-on-year.

— Lim Hijie

China’s trade surplus is expected to fall slightly to $74.3 billion in April from $88.2 billion in March, a Reuters poll of economists showed.

Exports are expected to grow by 8% y/y, up from 14.8% in March, while imports are expected to remain flat from the 1.4% y/y decline in the previous month.

Goldman Sachs economists said in a note Monday that the softening in April’s trade data likely reflected “residual seasonality” after this year’s Chinese New Year.

“We expect export growth to slow in April as this seasonal bias is removed. He added that the pattern is less pronounced for imports.

The economy is also expected to report inflation data later in the week.

— Lee Ji-hye

Japanese household spending fell 1.9% year-on-year in March, according to government data. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a rise of 0.4%.

All household spending also contracted by 0.8% m/m, beating expectations of 1.5% growth.

Separately, Japan’s overtime wages rose 1.1% in March as the country grappled with inflation above the central bank’s target. The increase marks a slowdown in wage growth from his 1.7% increase seen in the previous month.

— Lee Ji-hye

Investing can be difficult for those retiring in five years.

Markets are volatile, there is uncertainty about when a recession will occur or how deep it will be, and the direction of monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve is uncertain.

So how should retirees invest given the short investment horizon and the need for some savings?

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Tan Weizhen

One corner of the tech industry is poised for a boom as Morgan Stanley predicts the industry will be worth $5 trillion by 2027.

It named the three top stocks in the tech nook. CNBC Pro takes a look at what they said about each.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Tan Weizhen

The S&P 500 has performed well in late spring and early summer over the past decade, led by healthcare stocks.

The broad index rose an average of 5% between May 5 and August 5, averaging a three-month period over the past 10 years, according to the company. Data analyzed by Bespoke Investment Group.

Healthcare stocks typically lead the index gains, gaining an average of 7.2% over the past decade. The real estate and technology sectors of the S&P 500 have also historically outperformed in their 10-period averages over the three-month period, rising 5.8% each in regular periods.

Energy is the only S&P 500 sector to average losses over the three-month trading period. Comparing returns over the past decade, the sector is down just 0.1% on average.

— Alex Haring

Bitcoin fell earlier in the week, magnifying losses from the weekend’s sharp drop. Last time, it was down about 4% to $27,787.05, according to Coin Metrics.Binance announced on Sunday that the Bitcoin network “We are experiencing congestion issues” As a result, we temporarily suspended Bitcoin withdrawals until the network stabilized.

“Reports of massive Bitcoin outflows and suspension of withdrawals on major exchanges may be part of the weakness we are seeing. As far as price action goes, Bitcoin is still pretty limited to a very few days of bullish consolidation,” said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.

“Only a break below $25,000 will be cause for concern. Until then, we believe the decline will continue to be very well supported,” he added.

For more information, read the full article here.

— Tanaya Machel

The rally at local banks stalled on Monday, with shares of PacWest Bancorp losing much of its early trading gains.

PacWest’s stock was up nearly 30%, while it was up about 5.2% in intraday trading. Late Friday night, CEO Paul Taylor said the bank’s business was “basically healthy,” but the company cut its dividend to just 1 cent a share, down from 25 cents last quarter. reduced to

The S&P 500 traded near the flat line, aided by a nearly 1% gain in energy stocks.

Energy was the best performing sector in the S&P 500, up almost 1%. Devon Energy and Schlumberger led the sector, each up more than 2%.

Overall, seven of the 11 sectors in the Composite Index fell. Real estate and utilities were the worst performers, each down about 0.4%.

— Alex Haring