Asia markets rise as China says it will end quarantine for inbound travelers

Jihye Lee

Stocks in Asia rose as China officially announced overnight it will end quarantine for inbound travelers on Jan. 8 — symbolizing an end to its zero-Covid policy that it’s held for nearly three years.

The nation also downgraded Covid to a less strict Category B, health authorities said, from its current top-level Category A.

The Shanghai Composite rose 0.64% and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.85% while markets in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand were closed for Christmas holiday.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	26543.47	137.6	0.52
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	19593.06	-86.16	-0.44
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	7107.7	-44.8	-0.63
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	3089.39	23.83	0.78
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2330.29	13.15	0.57
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	7892.1	28.7	0.36

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.32% and the Topix gained 0.5% as the nation saw retail sales up for the 9th consecutive month led by tourism. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.78% and the Kosdaq climbed 0.77%.

In the U.S., Wall Street ended last week with some gains for the S&P and Nasdaq Composite while posting a weekly loss as recession fears continued to batter investor sentiment. The core personal consumption expenditures price index for November came in at 4.7%, slightly hotter than expectations on an annualized basis.

Japan’s retail sales see ninth consecutive month of growth

Japan’s retail sales grew 2.6% in November, marking the ninth month of growth, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The reading missed expectations for growth of 3.7%, according to economists polled by Reuters – and marks the slowest growth since July.

The government’s lifting of Covid border restrictions and a domestic travel subsidy boosted wider consumer demand, as the economy saw an unexpected contraction in private consumption recovery.

– Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Tesla shares have fallen 35% this month — and short-sellers piled on

Short sellers raised their bets against Tesla this month, as the electric car maker’s shares fell by a further 35%.

More than 3% of Tesla shares currently trading are sold short, according to S3 Partners. Only Apple faces a bigger short bet.

— Ganesh Rao

China’s year-to-date industrial profit data falls further

China’s total profits of industrial enterprises for January to November fell further to -3.6% compared with a year ago, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

November’s print marks the fifth-straight negative reading after falling below 0 in July, and marks the worst performance since August 2020, when it saw a loss of 4.4%.

– Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Will 2023 be a better year for the chip sector? Wall Street pros weigh in and give their top picks

Once an investor favorite, chip stocks have sold off this year amid a flight to safety.The pros reveal what’s next for the sector and name their top stock picks.

— Zavier Ong

Stocks close higher to end the week

Stocks ended in the green on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 176 points higher, or 0.5%, to 33,203.93. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 3,844.82, while the and Nasdaq Composite added 0.2% to close at 10,497.86.

— Tanaya Macheel

Fed preferred inflation indicator rises slightly more than expected

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, rose slightly more than economists expected on a year-over-year basis.

Core PCE climbed 4.7% in November from the year-earlier period, while economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 4.6%. Month over month, the index advanced 0.2%, matching expectations.

— Fred Imbert