Asian stocks extend losses after Powell’s comments; Japan’s Inflation Slows

Consumer Price Index of Malaysia The 1.9% annual increase in September was lower than the 2% in August and the 2.2% expected in a Reuters poll.

This is the lowest inflation rate the country has seen since March 2021. Malaysia has also not seen an increase in its inflation rate for 13 consecutive months.

On a month-on-month basis, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in September, slightly lower than the 0.2% increase recorded in August.

– Lim Hui Jee

Bank Indonesia Raised interest rates A surprise move to prevent the rupee from falling on Thursday.

The Indonesian rupiah fell 0.5% against the dollar on Thursday, losing nearly 2% this year.

Indonesia’s central bank raised the 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 6%, its second hike this year. All economists Survey Bank rates were expected to remain unchanged, according to Reuters.

“Policymakers have struggled for currency stability amid global uncertainty,” said Radhika Rao, senior economist at TPS Group Research, adding, “Indonesian policymakers face a policy dilemma. The data is revealing.”

Data on inflation, trade balance and money supply will all be released ahead of Bank Indonesia’s next policy meeting in November.

– Shreyashi Sanyal

Benchmark lending rates were kept unchanged for October after the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy showed signs of stabilization following recent policy support.

The People’s Bank of China kept its one-year lending prime rate — the peg for most household and corporate loans in China — unchanged at 3.45%. The five-year benchmark lending rate — the peg for most mortgages — was 4.2%. A statement on Friday From the Central Bank of China.

— Clement Don

The benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield exceeded 5% for the first time in 16 years.

The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5.001% at 5:02 pm ET, trading above that key level for the first time since July 20, 2007, when it gained as much as 5.029%.

– Gina Francola, Christine Wang

Japan’s core inflation It declined from a rate of 3.2% in August to 3% in September.

However, the reading marked the 18th consecutive month that inflation exceeded the Bank of Japan’s 2% target.

Core inflation – which strips out fresh food prices – fell to 2.8% from 3.1% in August.

Separately, the so-called “core-core” measure of inflation, which strips out fresh food and energy prices and is watched by the BOJ, fell to 4.2% from 4.3% in August.

– Lim Hui Jee

Six global stocks are close to forming a “death cross” chart pattern, indicating potential selling pressure in the near future.

A death cross is a price chart pattern formed when a stock’s 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average. Technical analysts see a bullish trend as a sign that investors are bearish on a stock, or that a stock’s momentum is weakening and will continue to decline, and there is an opportunity to buy soon. The death cross is also used as a bear market forecast.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about those six stocks here.

– Ganesh Rao

Investors took the rise in gold prices as a signal that markets are safe at a time when bond yields are rising and the Israel-Hamas conflict is intensifying. Spot gold last traded at $1,957.39 an ounce, up about 8% from October’s low of $1,819.

However, Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton expects gold to be “overextended in the short term” and could pull back next week. He expects the latest move to be a bounce from its previous low.

“Gold is really up this week,” Stockton said. “Everyone is saying too quickly because there is risk in the market right now, but I don’t agree with that.”

“We have to contextualize what happened before this relief rally, which was a really sharp decline. So, gold is back to where it was in mid-to-late September,” he added. “So we’ve seen a round trip in the price of gold.”

Drug stocks such as Pfizer and Moderna hit new lows on Thursday among 26 S&P 500 names. Illumina’s shares also traded at lows not seen since December 2016.

Elsewhere, United Airlines was last seen in October 2022, while Southwest Airlines traded at lows not seen since May 2020.

Here are some other names hitting new lows:

– Sara Min, Gina Francola