Japan trade deficit narrows in April, imports fall more than expected
Japan’s trade deficit has narrowed by almost half in April, falling to 432.41 billion from 854.93 billion a year ago.
Most notably, imports fell by 2.3% year on year, more than the 0.3% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Exports came in largely in line with expectations, rising 2.6% year-on-year compared to the 3% expected.
— Lim Hui Jie
New Zealand’s producer price index slightly drops in Q1
New Zealand’s producer price index rose by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the final quarter of 2022, government data showed.
Input producer price index rose 0.2% – with the farm expenses price index rising0.7% and capital goods price index climbing 1%.
The New Zealand dollar slightly strengthened to 0.6242 against the U.S. dollar.
– Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Nvidia’s stock could rise fivefold in 10 years on A.I. trend, says fund manager
Nvidia, the company behind the most powerful chips used to enable artificial intelligence (A.I.), has the potential to increase its stock value by five times within the next ten years, according to investor and fund manager Philip Ripman.
Investor enthusiasm for Nvidia is centered around its business model of selling high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) essential for running the complex algorithms behind artificial intelligence technologies. As A.I. has become increasingly important across industries, demand for GPUs has surged.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more Ripman’s views on Nvidia here.
— Ganesh Rao
CNBC Pro: Analysts say these 11 top-performing stocks are set to soar even more — giving one over 85% upside
The year is nearing its halfway mark, and global stocks have been doing much better than they had in volatile 2022.
Many stocks have soared and beaten the overall market, but there’s still more room for investor bullishness.
CNBC Pro screened for stocks that are beating the market nearly halfway into the year — and that analysts love. One’s a Buffett favorite, and another two are top picks by BofA and Citi.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Montana becomes first U.S. state to ban TikTok
Montana became the first U.S. state to impose a complete ban on video app TikTok.
Montana governor Greg Gianforte said in a release, “The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented.”
“Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party,” he wrote.
The governor also directed the state’s chief information officer and executive agency directors to “prohibit the use of all social media applications tied to foreign adversaries on state equipment and for state business,” the release added.
TikTok called the move “a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana,” adding that the ban is “unlawful.”
“We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,” TikTok said in a statement.
– Jihye Lee
Bank of America says these stocks will outperform after the Fed’s last rate hike
The Federal Reserve’s rate hike cycle may be coming to a pause — and Bank of America thinks some smaller names could outperform.
The central bank hinted in its May post-meeting statement that it may not raise rates beyond the current range of 5% to 5.25%. Bank of America said its economists expect cooling inflation and a mild recession in the coming months following the pause in tightening monetary policy.
If this is the case and the Fed does end its rate-hiking campaign, investors may want to consider investing in some small-cap stocks that have done well historically.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read about which stocks Bank of America thinks will outperform here.
— Hakyung Kim
Tech sector hits 52-week high for a third straight day
Tech stocks climbed higher during Wednesday’s rally. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rose 1.2%, hitting a 52-week high. It’s the third straight session that the fund reached that milestone.
The tech ETD is up 2% this month, pushing its 2023 gains to nearly 24%.
Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund
Defensive stocks underperform
Investors tilted away from defensive stocks on Wednesday. Of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, only health care, consumer staples and utilities were trading in negative territory during midday trading.
Health care stocks slid 0.9%, while utilities stocks were down 0.5%. Consumer staples were down by 0.4%.
— Sarah Min
McCarthy vows U.S. will not default on debt payments
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed optimism Wednesday that even though negotiations on the debt ceiling face obstacles, he does not foresee a default.
“I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think we finally got the president to agree to negotiate.”
The comments come a day after President Joe Biden met with top congressional leaders to try to find a way around the debt impasse. McCarthy said the talks resulted in a “structure” to find a solution while noting that the deadline remains “tight” as Republicans look for spending cuts and Democrats seek a clean bill not tied to conditions.
“The comes a moment in time when you hit the wall,” McCarthy said. “You can’t continue down this trajectory if you want to continue to be the strongest nation in the world.”
—Jeff Cox