3 hours ago
Australian shares break last year’s low, Australian dollar weakens to 12-month low.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 broke its one-year low on Thursday, falling 0.88% to a low of 6,777.5 points in the morning, lower than the 6,785.7 hit on October 28, 2022.
This comes a day after the country’s inflation rate came in higher than expected in the third quarter.
Separately, the Australian dollar also weakened by 0.55% against the US dollar, reaching its lowest level in over a year at 0.6275. The next lowest value was recorded on October 14, 2022 at 0.6196.
—Lim Hui Jie
3 hours ago
Japanese and South Korean stocks fall over 2%
Stock indexes in Japan and South Korea fell over 2% on Thursday as investors took cues from Wall Street overnight.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.13%. South Korea’s Kospi index fell 2.20% to its lowest level since early January.
South Korea’s Kosdaq index fell over 3%. Shares of South Korean technology stocks also came under pressure as chipmaker SK Hynix fell 3.63% after reporting its quarterly results.
Investors also assessed data from South Korea that showed the economy grew slightly faster than expected in the third quarter.
—Shreyashi Sanyal
5 hours ago
SK Hynix shares fall 3.92% after third quarter results
Shares of South Korean chip supplier SK Hynix fell 3.92% after the company reported a third-quarter net loss of 2.18 trillion won ($1.61 billion), versus a net profit of 1.11 Trillion won in the same period last year.
Revenue fell 17% year-on-year to 9.07 trillion won. The company also posted an operating loss of 1.79 trillion won, compared to an operating profit of 1.66 trillion won in the third quarter of 2022.
However, SK Hynix highlighted that losses narrowed quarter on quarter as net loss and operating loss fell by 27% and 38%, respectively, compared to the second quarter.
“As the impact of production reductions by global memory suppliers becomes apparent and customers now place new orders following efforts to reduce their inventories, semiconductor prices are beginning to stabilize,” the company said.
—Lim Hui Jie
6 hours ago
Ford shares rise 2% after the auto giant reached a settlement with the UAW
The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor agreed in principle to the terms of a tentative agreement that could end a labor strike at the automaker, sources confirmed to CNBC.
A tentative agreement could be announced as early as Wednesday evening, subject to approval from union leaders, two sources told CNBC. UAW members had been on strike since mid-September.
Shares of Ford rose 2.5% in after-hours trading. The automaker is expected to report its third-quarter results on Thursday after the market closes.
Read more about the ongoing collective bargaining here.
-Darla Mercado, Mike Wayland
7 hours ago
Struggling utilities are the only winning sector in October
It’s been a tough 2023 for utilities, but the beaten-down sector is the only one in the S&P 500 that’s positive for the month.
Utilities are down nearly 16% this year, but posted a gain of 0.66% in October. The sector is also posting weekly gains, followed by consumer discretionary. The other nine sectors are heading for losses over the course of the week.
Big winners in utilities this week include NextEra Energy, up about 8.7% over the period, and AES Corp, up 6.2%.
Utilities are popular with income-seeking investors for their dividend payments, but as interest rates rise they are falling on hard times. This exposes companies to higher financing costs and strains the balance sheets of already indebted companies.
-Darla Mercado, Nick Wells
7 hours ago
Meta stocks fall in after-hours trading, erasing earnings-driven gains
Shares of Meta fell 3.1% in after-hours trading after Facebook parent company CFO Susan Li said the company would see lower advertising spending in the fourth quarter.
The stock was initially up more than 2% in Meta’s earnings report on Wednesday, leading to better-than-expected third-quarter results as revenue rose 23%, the fastest growth rate since 2021. The company also cut its forecast for However, the fourth quarter is expected to generate sales of between $36.5 billion and $40 billion, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $38.84 billion.
Li said Meta has observed lower advertising spending related to the start of the Middle East conflict, as the Israel-Hamas war enters its third week.
“We see continued strong advertising demand in key segments such as online commerce and gaming, however we also see greater volatility early in the quarter,” Li said. “That is partly why we have expanded our guidance range to reflect this uncertainty to be taken into account.”
The executive noted that while the company cannot with certainty attribute the demand weakness to a geopolitical event, Meta has experienced broader demand weakness in the past as a result of other regional conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
— Pia Singh, Stephen Desaulniers
8 hours ago