RBNZ rate hike; Chinese food giant Meituan pushes back

China’s economy is slowing, but Pinebridge Investments’ global head of equities and portfolio manager Anik Sen said there are domestic technology companies worth investing in.

“I think Chinese technology is still climbing the value chain as well. There are some really strong companies in the semiconductor space. It’s what we call the localization play or localization. Whether it’s in the healthcare sector,” Sen told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia.

“So I think the technology is pervasive [in China]And a very strong company that has expanded its food chain very rapidly, displacing the United States and some European countries in particular, enjoying a dominant market share in China so far. There are several ”

— Surin Tan

Columbia University economics professor Jeffrey Sachs told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia that the United States “needs to be less hostile” with China to curb ongoing inflationary pressures.

He said the Biden administration should not have continued with Trump-era tariffs on China, adding that escalating animosity with Beijing “doesn’t help inflation.”

The professor called the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law, “a typical title for a bill that has nothing to do with inflation for the next few years.” Sachs said inflation is likely to remain high for years to come.

— Jihye Lee

Ahead of the latest Reserve Bank of New Zealand decision, Goldman Sachs’ chief economist for Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Boak, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that the RBNZ is looking to invest more in its future moves. He said it could soon give them “room to wriggle” or a breather.

“After today’s 50 basis point rate hike, I think we will slow down the pace of tightening in the last few meetings,” Boak said.

New Zealand’s neighbor Australia, which has the tightest job market since 1974, is also tightening further.

“Australian landscape – domestic conditions warrant further tightening. Markets are fully employed and inflation is well above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s own projections. We’re just back at the top of % next year, but late 2024,” Boak said.

— Surin Tan

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed annual wage growth in Australia rose for the third straight quarter from 2.4% to 2.6%.

The figures were the strongest since 2014 and surpassed pre-pandemic growth, according to Capital Economics.

“Additionally, the June quarter saw an unusually high proportion of workers get raises, as the number of employees changing jobs continues to rise,” said Marcel Tyrianto, Australia-New Zealand economist at Capital Economics. rice field.

Thieliant expects wage growth to reach 3.5% by 2023, but the Central Bank of Australia warned that “the recent surge in inflation has undermined inflation expectations, prompting workers to demand even stronger wage increases. It will be like that,” he said.

— Surin Tan

Australia’s Westpac Melbourne Institute leading index, which measures the direction of the economy, rose to 0.63% in July from 0.48% in June.

Buoyed by a strong labor market and solid household balance sheets, the six-month annualized growth rate over the past three months has been broadly stable.

Westpac said it expected spending growth to slow as “rising interest rates and high inflation have already eroded confidence”.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said it was critical that the Reserve Bank of Australia “continue to raise cash rates at all meetings for the remainder of 2022” until February 2023.

The central bank’s next monetary policy decision is scheduled for September 6th.

— Lee Ji-hye

Growth in Singapore’s key exports slowed in July as shipments of non-electronic goods were weak.

Non-oil domestic exports increased 7% year-on-year in July compared to 8.5% in June. However, it beats Bloomberg’s consensus forecast of 6.4%.

Exports to Malaysia and Taiwan increased, but exports to China and Japan decreased. Overall, both non-oil exports and imports increased in July.

— Surin Tan

A strong rebound in US stocks has sparked hopes that the market has bottomed out. But is the bear market really over?

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— Xavier Ong

Japan posted better-than-expected growth in exports in July compared to a year ago. Growth of 19% was ahead of Refinitiv’s consensus forecast of 18.2%, driven by a strong recovery in motor vehicle exports.

July imports increased by 47.2% year-on-year, driven by rising prices of imported crude oil and liquid natural gas.

“Japan’s trade deficit widened to a record high in July, but will narrow in the coming months as supply shortages and commodity prices continue to ease,” Darren Tay, an economist at Capital Economics Japan, said in a report. I will start,” he said.

“Auto production should continue to normalize as supply chain disruptions ease, but commodity price growth has slowed further.”

— Surin Tan

New Zealand reports second quarter producer price index Input and output were 3.1% and 2.4%, respectively. Data show wholesale price inflation in the second quarter beat analyst expectations, but at a slower pace than in the first quarter.

— Surin Tan

Meta, like most tech stocks, has fallen sharply this year, and investors may be wondering if it’s time to buy the decline.

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— Tan Weizhen