Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as U.S. economic uncertainties linger
Shares of Mitsubishi Motors climb after reports of Foxconn collaboration
Shares of Mitsubishi Motors rose 4.5% after reports that it is closing in on an EV collaboration deal with Taiwan’s Foxconn, according to Nikkei citing sources close to the matter.
Discussions have been ongoing for over six months, sources were cited as saying.
—Lee Ying Shan
Japan inflation eases to 3.7% in February, down from a two-year high
Japan’s headline inflation rose 3.7% year on year in February, easing from a two-year high of 4% seen in January.
Core inflation — which excludes prices of fresh food — was at 3%, lower than January’s figure of 3.2%. However, the core inflation figure was higher with expectations of 2.9% from economists polled by Reuters.
The inflation figures come shortly after the Bank of Japan held interest rates steady.
Read the full story here.
—Lim Hui Jie
Individual investors unusually bearish for 10th time in 12 weeks
Optimism about the outlook for stocks over the next six months rose a touch among individual investors surveyed this week by the American Association of Individual Investors, but remained below the historic average for the 10th week in 12.
Bullish views rose to 21.6% of the total from 19.1% last week, but was far below the historic average of 37.5%. Bearish views toward the market dipped to 58.1% from 59.2%, above its historic average of 31.0% for the 16th week in 18. The balance of respondents were neutral on the stock outlook.
The latest AAII survey marked the first time in its history, which goes back to the late 1980s, that the percentage of bearish Main Street investors stayed above 57% for a fourth consecutive week.
In response to a special question, nearly three quarters of those polled said a recession this year was either highly likely or more likely to occur than not, with 50.4% saying odds of an economic contraction were “higher-than-typical” and another 21.7% saying a recession was “highly likely.” Fewer than one in five, or 18%, said the odds of a recession were no more or less than they expect, while just 9.7% said a recession was unlikely.
— Scott Schnipper
U.S. home sales rose more than expected in February
Homebuyers are starting to reenter the market as more housing becomes available to buy, leading to a better-than-expected increase in February.
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes rose 4.2% in February from January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million units. However, sales were down 1.2% from the same period a year ago. But that was still better than what economists were anticipating.
— Christina Cheddar Berk
