5 hours ago
Sensetime shares jump more than 20% after AI announcement
Shares of Chinese artificial intelligence company Sensetime Group soared more than 20%, outperforming the Hang Seng Index’s 1.04% gain.
While it wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the rally, the company held a technology day on Tuesday where it planned to announce “the latest advances in technology.” SenseTime’s cutting-edge AI technology“.
Chinese media reported that Sensetime unveiled its SenseNova 5.0 AI model. President Xu Li reportedly claimed that SenseNova was better than OpenAI’s GPT 4 in the majority of general usage scenarios, especially in enterprise applications and Chinese language usage scenes.
4 hours ago
Risk of intervention on the yen after the Bank of Japan meeting this Friday (BofA)
The Japanese yen may rise above the 155 level against the US dollar after the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting on Friday, according to a Bank of America note.
BofA analyst Shusuke Yamada wrote that the BOJ has already signaled that yen weakness could impact policy through its impact on inflation, but he thinks a repeat of that communication would not be enough to support the yen.
Yamada said that for the BOJ to support the yen, “it would have to recognize that its policy has been too accommodative, that the next hike is as imminent as in June, and that the final rate would be higher than that set by the market.” .
However, he said it was unlikely to do so, which would push the yen past the 155 level and likely trigger intervention, adding that if Japan does not intervene around that level, ” the market could buy and bring USD/JPY to this level.” 160 quickly and test [its] resolve at this level.
-Lim Hui Jie
6 hours ago
Australian consumer prices mark fifth straight quarter of cooling
Australia’s consumer price index marked its fifth consecutive quarter of slowing inflation, data released on Wednesday showed.
The CPI in the first quarter increased by 3.6% compared to last year, recording the smallest increase since the fourth quarter of 2021.
The figure remains slightly higher than the 3.5% increase expected by a Reuters poll.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was almost flat following the release of the data, after rising 0.49% earlier.
-Shreyashi Sanyal
7 hours ago
Producer prices in Japan’s services sector climb 2.3% in March
Producer prices in Japan’s services sector rose 2.3% year-on-year in March, an acceleration from February’s revised 2.2% gain.
The 2.3% figure is just 0.2 percentage points off the eight-year high of 2.5% recorded last December.
The producer price index measures changes in the prices of services traded between businesses and is used to reflect changes in demand and supply of services.
-Lim Hui Jie
7 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Buy these gold and copper stocks to meet AI, Chinese demand and more: fund managers
Gold and copper are on fire as geopolitical tensions rise, central banks buy gold and AI demand for copper rises.
Some money managers and Wall Street analysts remain bullish on these commodities.
Here are some names they like.
CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.
— Weizhen Tan
7 hours ago
CNBC Pro: Forget Nvidia: Morgan Stanley says Intel’s high-profile AI chip will boost 3 global stocks
The launch of Intel’s latest artificial intelligence chip is expected to benefit three global semiconductor companies, according to Morgan Stanley.
Intel unveiled its third-generation AI accelerator, Gaudi 3, earlier this month. The semiconductor giant said the latest chip is twice as power efficient and can run AI models one and a half times faster than Nvidia’s H100 GPU – the flagship of the current chip market leader of AI.
The three global semiconductor companies are manufacturing various parts of the new AI chip for Intel.
CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.
-Ganesh Rao
12 hours ago
Goldman Sachs’ Kostin expects profits to be higher this year, even amid margin pressures
Goldman Sachs’ David Kostin expects profits to be higher this year, even amid concerns about margin pressures in the face of higher inflation.
About a fifth of companies have reported their results so far this season. Of those companies, Kostin noted, about two-thirds beat expectations on the bottom line, while about a third beat estimates on the top line.
“What that suggests to us is that companies are capable and demonstrating the ability to grind their teeth by a small margin,” Kostin told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday.
The chief U.S. equity strategist said he expects inflation to eventually ease this year and interest rates to fall from their peaks, helping to boost earnings growth.
“Our prediction is that [the] “The market is growing slowly, in line with earnings expectations,” Kostin said. “Margins will be roughly flat, and ultimately it’s to some extent economic growth that will drive sales, and that’s a big part of why profits are higher this year .”
-Sarah Min
15 hours ago
Dimon says economy is booming, but risk of ‘stagflation’ remains
JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon gestures as he speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s oversight hearing on Wall Street Companies on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on December 6, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that the U.S. economy remains strong, but could tip into a period of “stagflation.”
At the Economic Club of New York, Dimon said to be wary of “stagflation,” which is an economic situation defined by high inflation and unemployment as well as slowing growth. Despite the concern, he said the U.S. economy has continued to thrive.
The bank chief also said that the current geopolitical situation is probably “the most complicated and dangerous” since World War II.
—Alex Harring, Ritika Shah
18 hours ago
US crude falls to lowest level since March, falls below 50-day moving average
An aerial view shows a jack operating in an oil well in Gray Horse, Oklahoma, September 29, 2023.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
US crude oil hit a session low of $80.89 per barrel on Tuesday, its lowest level since late March.
West Texas Intermediate futures for June also fell below the 50-day moving average of $81.22 per barrel for the first time since early February.
WTI last traded at $81.51 a barrel, down 39 cents, while June Brent futures were down 36 cents at $86.64 a barrel.
Traders pushed prices down after a rise earlier this month amid fears that Iran and Israel were on the brink of war. Those fears largely dissipated as the bitter foes signaled they are not interested in a broader war after trading retaliatory strikes this month.
The market was also not concerned about the impending oil sanctions against Iran. The House of Representatives passed legislation this weekend that would target ports, ships and refineries that accept Iranian oil. The Senate could consider the bill this week.
-Spencer Kimball
