Asia-Pacific stocks mostly rise ahead of U.S. midterm elections

Jihye Lee

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific traded mostly higher early Tuesday morning as investors digest the Bank of Japan’s summary of opinions and look ahead to the U.S. midterm elections.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 1.43% and the Topix was also 1.38% higher. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.37% in Australia. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.06%.

The Bank of Japan released a summary of opinions of board members from its monetary policy meeting in October, when it left interest rates unchanged while global peers took on jumbo rate hikes. New Zealand will release its outlook for inflation in the fourth quarter. Nintendo will report quarterly earnings later in the day.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was fractionally lower after struggling for direction, while mainland China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.52% and the Shenzhen Component was also down 0.745%.

TICKER	COMPANY	NAME	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.N225	Nikkei 225 Index	*NIKKEI	27925.63	397.99	1.45
.HSI	Hang Seng Index	*HSI	16588.75	-7.16	-0.04
.AXJO	S&P/ASX 200	*ASX 200	6962.1	28.4	0.41
.SSEC	Shanghai	*SHANGHAI	3061.94	-15.88	-0.52
.KS11	KOSPI Index	*KOSPI	2398.54	26.75	1.13
.FTFCNBCA	CNBC 100 ASIA IDX	*CNBC 100	7159.6	73.59	1.04

Overnight in the U.S., stocks rallied Monday as investors looked ahead to a packed week with midterm elections and key inflation data on deck and shrugged off a supply warning from Apple.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded higher by 423.78 points, or 1.31%, to 32,827.00. The S&P 500 gained 0.96% to 3,806.80. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.85% to 10,564.52, after trading between gains and losses earlier in the session. All three major averages notched a second straight positive day.

— CNBC’s Sarah Min contributed to this report.

KakaoPay stock soars on China, Japan expansion announcement

Shares of KakaoPay jumped more than 11% in South Korea’s morning session after the company announced its expansion plans for Japan and China.

The payment app launched a partnership with AliPay Plus ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games, which includes payment services for businesses near the Games’ venue, the company said.

In Japan, users of KakaoPay will now have full access to its services at airports, convenient stores, drug stores, department stores as well as theme parks such as Osaka’s Universal Studios.

Kakao, the parent company of KakaoPay, also rose more than 3%, and Kakao Bank, the firm’s digital bank, gained more than 5%.

–Jihye Lee

Indonesia’s Blibli shares up nearly 5% on debut

Indonesian e-commerce firm Blibli’s shares rose 4.9% in its Indonesia Stock Exchange debut on Tuesday.

It is the latest tech company in Southeast Asia to list in Jakarta since Bukalapak in August 2021 and GoTo in April 2022.

Its share price climbed to as high as 472 rupiah in early trading from the initial public offering price of 450 rupiah.

Shares retreated to and were sold at 454 rupiah, representing a market capitalization of 53.79 trillion rupiah ($3.4 billion).

–Sheila Chiang

CNBC Pro: UBS thinks gold will rally by a double-digit percentage in 2023

Swiss investment bank UBS is forecasting a rebound in gold prices next year.

Gold has traditionally been considered an inflation hedge, but rising interest rates mean it has lost 18% of its value since March

UBS analysts said it offers “an attractive risk-reward” looking ahead — here’s why.

— Ganesh Rao

Bank of Japan says no need for immediate change in monetary policy

The Bank of Japan’s board members see “no need to immediately change monetary policy,” according to the summary opinions from October’s meeting.

“Continued monetary easing is necessary in order to raise productivity and wage levels through supply-side reforms,” the report said.

The Bank of Japan summary reiterated the necessity to monitor inflationary pressures and its impact on households and wages “while paying attention to the side effects of monetary easing.”

The central bank also hinted at preparations for a shift from its current monetary stance.

It said, “It is also important to continue to examine how future exit strategies will affect the market and whether market participants will be well prepared for them,” without further elaboration.

— Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Markets will rally into year-end, says Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon, who names 3 stocks to buy

Morgan Stanley’s Andrew Slimmon expects the market to rise as we head toward the end of the year.

“Despite [the] Fed Chair throwing cold water on the concept of a Fed pivot, I still believe the equity market will rally into year-end,” Slimmon, senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” Friday.

He expects all but one sector to move higher, and names three stocks to cash in.

— Weizhen Tan

Stocks close higher, notch second straight day of gains

Stocks rallied Monday as investors looked ahead to a packed week with congressional midterm elections and key inflation data on deck over the next few days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded higher by 423.78 points, or 1.31%, to 32,827. The S&P 500 gained 0.96% to 3,806.80. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.85% to 10,564.52, after trading between gains and losses earlier in the session.

All three major averages notched a second straight day of gains.

— Sarah Min

Source : CNBC