Asian markets, US Federal Reserve, inflation in Tokyo, Caixin services in China, India

Chinese internet company Bilibili still has a long way to go to profitability, analyst says.

“A monetization issue and a net loss are concerns for investors. They have a long way to go to break even,” Shawn Yang, managing director of Blue Lotus Capital Advisors, said Friday on “Squawk Box Asia” from CNBC.

His comments come as the company posted narrower fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 net losses on Thursday.

“The video industry in China is a highly competitive segment. Bilibili has to spend a lot in terms of content creation,” Yang said.

He said that while the company has always been very good at introducing more quality content and attracting more users, the competitive landscape presents a challenge to monetize its paying users. “If you look at the paying user, the quarter-over-quarter trend is already flat,” Yang added.

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Bilibili rose 9.67% in Friday trading.

Goldman Sachs has named eight global stocks of companies that will become profitable this year and beat the broader market in a new research report.

The investment bank has found that companies that go from unprofitable to profitable during a market rally typically outperform the market as a whole.

According to Goldman, this phenomenon was observed in 2001 and 2008, with outperformances exceeding 50% each time.

CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.

—Ganesh Rao

China’s services-sector activity grew at the fastest pace in six months, with its Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for February coming in at 55, significantly higher than January’s 52.9.

In his report, Caixin said that was also faster than the series average of 53.7. The 50 point mark separates the expansion and contraction of activity on a monthly basis.

The recovery, Caixin reported, was supported by the biggest increase in new business since April 2021, as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions helped boost customer numbers and demand.

Growth in new export orders also accelerated, reaching its highest level in nearly four years.

—Lim Hui Jie

In February, Japan’s services sector grew at its fastest pace since June 2022, according to a private survey by the bank at Jibun.

The country’s services purchasing managers’ index came in at 54, up from 52.3 in January. A reading above 50 signals expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction for the sector.

In its report, the bank noted that Japanese service providers reported that business activity increased sharply in the middle of the first quarter of 2023.

Activity grew at the fastest pace in eight months, “amid a markedly stronger increase in new business inflows,” the report said.

—Lim Hui Jie

The S&P Global Singapore Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.6 in February, below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.

The February print was down from January’s reading of 51.2, signaling “further deterioration in private sector conditions,” S&P said in a statement.

He added that buying activity declined in February due to moderating demand conditions.

“The business climate has deteriorated, while caution in hiring and buying has taken the overall PMI into contractionary territory,” said Jingyi Pan, associate director of economics at S&P Market Intelligence.

“While the latest developments have supported easing supply issues and easing pricing pressures for businesses, the lack of improvement in the demand situation is not good news for the sector. private Singapore in the coming months,” Pan said.

—Jihye Lee

Tokyo’s consumer price index rose 3.3% in February, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters, and a weaker print than government data of 4.3% in January.

Overall, the capital’s CPI hit 3.4%, a cooler print than last month’s 4.4%, while non-food and energy prices for Tokyo rose 1.8%, also a slower pace than 1.7% compared to January.

The Japanese yen weakened slightly to 136.7 against the US dollar.

—Jihye Lee

China’s reopening after the pandemic has been a major theme in 2023. But the recent pullback in Chinese stocks is an opportunity for investors to seize opportunities, according to Bernstein analyst Rupal Agarwal.

While both A-shares and H-shares are ways for investors to gain exposure to the China reopening theme, Agarwal said she believes one is the better option.

Pro subscribers can learn more here.

— Zavier Ong

Japan’s unemployment rate for January was 2.4%, 0.1% lower than December and slightly below economists’ expectations of 2.5%

This is the lowest unemployment rate since February 2020, according to data from Refinitiv.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio in Japan also came in at 1.35, down from 1.36% in December.

—Lim Hui Jie

Now that the 10-year Treasury yield has passed the psychological barrier of 4%, it should continue to rise, according to Credit Suisse.

“This should open a deeper upside in what we now expect to be an even wider range. Next supports are seen at 4.11% and then the October high at 4.325%,” analyst David wrote. Sneddon in a note Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year benchmark last rose nearly 8 basis points to 4.073%.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman Raphael Bostic said he thinks the central bank can stick to quarter-point interest rate hikes.

“I’m still in the spirit that slow and steady will be the proper course of action,” Bostic told members of the media. He added that he favored rate hikes of 0.25 percentage points, a cut the Fed took at its meeting a month ago.

“Right now I’m still very firmly in the rhythm of quarter-point moves,” he added.

Some other Fed officials have said they are ready to hike half a point when they meet later this month. Market prices are currently indicating this movement, although the likelihood of a half-point increase has increased in recent days.

—Jeff Cox

Artificial intelligence has taken Wall Street by storm since ChatGPT launched and has gone viral, sparking renewed interest among investors in stocks that could benefit from the trend.

But there’s another way to get into the AI ​​buzz happening right now, according to tech investor Mark Hawtin, who names a stock to play it.

CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.

—Weizhen Tan

The S&P 500 has flirted with its 200-day moving average, and a drop below that level could signal more selling.

The 200-day was at around 3,940 on Thursday, and the index fell below that level but rallied on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was trading near that level on Thursday morning.

The 200 days is literally the average of the last 200 closing prices and is considered a momentum indicator for a stock or index. Stock chart analysts would consider this a negative signal if the index closed below that level and stayed below.

-Patti Domm

Trading in credit default swaps (CDS) on U.S. Treasuries has resumed since January, with implied default probabilities rising “to levels not seen since the 2013 debt ceiling debate,” the analysts wrote. MSCI researchers Andras Rokob and Andy Sparks in a blog post on Thursday. .

CDS spreads widened in 2023, echoing similar moves in 2011 and 2013, in two other episodes that saw battles between Congress and the White House over raising the US debt ceiling, wrote Researchers.

“Assuming a 95% recovery, the CDS market’s one-year implied default probability was 11.3% as of February 24, up significantly from the 3.3% probability that prevailed at the start of the month. ‘year,” MSCI said. “The consequences of a potential US government default extend beyond the immediate impact on Treasury bond holders,” Rokob and Sparks warned. “Major market dislocation and a sharp downturn in economic activity could both be realistic possibilities.”

— Scott Snapper; CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report