Asia-Pacific markets, Fed, Wall Street, Apple, Tesla, Japan PMI

The AU Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index posted a reading of 48.9 for December, marking the second consecutive month in contraction territory.

The reading fell from 49.0 in November, and marked the weakest reading since 48.70 in October 2020.

The sustained contraction in manufacturing was attributed to “weak global economic trends”, the report said.

– Lee Ying Shan

Tesla’s suppliers in Asia fell after it reported fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers for 2022 that fell short of expectations.

The delivery report showed 405,278 total deliveries for the quarter and 1.31 million total deliveries for the year, lower than expectations to see around 427,000 deliveries in the final quarter of the year.

of Japan Panasonic Losing 1.82% in early Asia trade – South Korea’s LG Chem fell 0.17% in earlier hours and Samsung SDI shed nearly 2%.

Shenzhen-listed shares of Contemporary Amperex Technologies, or CATL, fell 1.7%. Tesla shares fell 12% on Wall Street on Tuesday.

– Ashley Caput, Jihye Lee

The once-hot chip sector suffered in 2022, but Wall Street appears to be growing more optimistic about semiconductor stocks for the year ahead.

Recently, several professionals have urged investors to take a long-term view of the sector, given the importance of chips in several key secular trends.

Analysts name a stock as particularly bullish, citing its earnings potential and future profitability.

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— Wizen Tan

According to S&P Global, the US manufacturing price managers’ index, a measure of output, fell at the fastest rate since May 2020 in December.

The index was 46.2 in December, down from 47.7 in November, according to data released on Tuesday. Lower prices and contract levels of production depend on the index. In addition, December saw a sharper-than-expected decline in new sales, with companies citing uncertainty due to the economic context.

-Carmen Reinick

The stock slipped more than 13%, to levels not seen since August 2020.

-Carmen Reinick

A sale in apple Shares pushed the iPhone maker’s market capitalization below $2 trillion on Tuesday.

Shares fell 4% amid reports of production cuts on some items due to weak demand. Concerns over iPhone supplies during the holiday period have mounted in recent weeks, and Apple’s shares have been pressured by shutdowns through its main supplier in China.

The drop in shares contrasts with a year ago, when Apple became the first US company to hit the $3 trillion market cap.

Apple was the latest mega cap tech stock to break above the $2 trillion level.

— Samantha Subin

Goldman Sachs has consensus forecasts for the US economy in 2023.

“Our economists continue to believe that the US will avoid recession as the Fed has successfully engineered a soft landing for the economy,” the analysts wrote on Tuesday.

“This outside-consensus forecast partly reflects our view that a period of lower-potential growth is sufficient to gradually rebalance the labor market and ease wage and price pressures,” the note said. “But it also reflects our analysis which indicates that the string of fiscal and monetary policy tightening will ease sharply next year, contrary to the consensus view that the lagged effect of interest rate hikes will cause a recession in 2023.”

Additionally, the bank today raised its 4Q22 GDP growth forecast by 10bp to +2.1% on the back of a surprisingly strong November construction spending release.

“The disconnect between the resilience of the U.S. economy in 2022 and the downdraft experienced by stocks was a key narrative last year,” Goldman said. “And, whether this disconnect persists, or whether the economy matches the market downdraft, or a market rebound in the wake of an economic soft landing could at least be part of the 2023 narrative.”

-Carmen Reinick