Japanese inflation data, Chinese loan interest rates

The People’s Bank of China left the 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates unchanged, broadly in line with expectations.

The 1-year LPR stood at 3.65% while the 5-year LPR stood at 4.3%, both unchanged since August 2022.

The Chinese yuan off and on was flat and last settled at 6.7679 and 6.7738 against the US dollar.

– Jihe Lee

Core inflation in Japan rose to 4% in December last year on an annual basis, the highest level since December 1981 and in line with expectations.

The reading was up from the inflation reading of 3.7% seen in November.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2% in December, holding flat from the previous month.

The Japanese Yen traded 0.16% weaker against the Dollar, to settle at 128.63.

– Jihe Lee

There were about 190,000 initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending January 14, which is lower than expected and underscores the continued resilience of the labor market.

That’s less than the 215,000 initial claims expected for this week by analysts polled by Dow Jones. It also marks a decrease from last week’s 205,000 claims.

Market participants watched the employment data for signs of a cooling job market. Business is an area of ​​the economy that has remained strong even as other regions showed contraction after the Fed’s series of interest rate hikes.

– Alex Haring

Federal Reserve Governor Lyle Brainard said Thursday that she expects interest rates to remain high despite recent signs of weakening inflation.

in gave a speech At the Chicago Booth School of Business, the central bank official vowed to “stay the course” until inflation shows more signs of being close to the Fed’s 2% target.

“Even with the recent moderation, inflation remains high, and policy will need to be sufficiently restrictive for some time to make sure inflation returns to 2% on a sustainable basis,” she said.

– Jeff Cox

Stephen Glass of Pella Funds Management said that the US dollar has been declining in recent months and that is good news for commodities.

He’s particularly bullish on copper, designating three stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Wizen tan

Boston Federal Reserve Chair Susan Collins said Thursday that she believes the central bank can raise interest rates less after a series of aggressive moves last year.

“More measured price adjustments at the current stage would better enable us to address the competing risks that monetary policy now faces — the risk that our measures may be insufficient to restore price stability, versus the risk that our measures may cause unnecessary losses in real activity.” And she said in prepared remarks.

Collins hasn’t specified where she thinks politics should go next. But the Fed at its December meeting approved a 0.5 percentage point increase after four consecutive moves of 0.75 points.

While most economists expect at least a moderate recession this year, Collins said he is “reasonably optimistic that there is a path to lower inflation without a major economic downturn.”

– Jeff Cox

Wall Street is optimistic about the reopening of China. But Morgan Stanley goes further: it expects Chinese stocks to outperform global markets this year.

The investment bank named its best stock picks, including one tech giant it offers about 30% upside potential.

Professional subscribers can Read more here.

– Xavier Ong