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Hong Kong jumps over 2% as Asia investors digest the Fed's hawkish pause in rate hikes

Jihye Lee
Lim Hui Jie

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

The FED: US Federal Reserve, Washington DC
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Asia-Pacific markets rose, led by Hong Kong after the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on a rate hike while projecting that another two quarter percentage point moves are on the way before the end of the year.

The latest decision left the Fed's key borrowing rate in a target range of 5%-5.25%.The central bank forecast it will raise interest rates as high as 5.6% before 2023 is over.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rebounded and climbed over 2% powered by health care, consumer cyclicals and tech stocks. Mainland Chinese markets also rose, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.74% to end at 3,252.98, and the Shenzhen Component up by 1.81% to close at 11,182,94.

New Zealand fell into a technical recession after its first-quarter gross domestic product fell 0.1% year on year, after reporting a revised 0.7% decline in the final quarter of 2022.

In Japan, both the Nikkei 225 and the Topix fell marginally, both breaking a four day winning streak and closing at 33,485.49 and 2,293.97 respectively as the Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting.

South Korea's Kospi inched down 0.4% to end its session at 2,608.54, while the Kosdaq gained 0.71% to 878.04.

China's central bank lowered its key medium-term lending rates on Thursday. The country also released a slew of economic data, including industrial output, retail sales and house prices.


In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.19% and ended at 7,175.3, as the country saw unemployment fall slightly to 3.6% in May, compared to the 3.7% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes ended mixed after the Fed announcement, with the S&P 500 inching up 0.08% and the Nasdaq Composite climbing 0.39%. In contrast, The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.68%.

— CNBC's Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report

China to see the world’s biggest millionaire exodus this year, new study shows

China, with the world's second-largest economy and the second-highest population, will again see the biggest exodus of millionaires this year, according to new research. 

According to a report by investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners, China is expected to lose the largest number of dollar millionaires this year due to migration, when compared to any other country. 

Data from the firm showed that a net 10,800 high-net-worth individuals migrated out of China in 2022, and another net 13,500 are expected to leave this year. 

Australia on the other hand, is expected to see an influx of a net 5,200 millionaires, an increase from net 3,800 in 2022.

Read the full story here.

China property stocks rise after home price data, key policy rate cut

Chinese property stocks extended gains in Thursday morning trade, after the People's Bank of China cut the borrowing cost of its medium-term policy loans for the first time in 10 months.

China's new home prices rose 0.1% in May from a year earlier, the first increase in annual terms since April 2022, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics.

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Longfor Group touch its highest in a month

In Hong Kong, Longfor Group rose as much as 5.6%, Country Garden jumped as much as 6.8%, China Overseas Land climbed as much as 3.2%.

The stocks later trimmed gains after China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that investment in real estate development dropped by 7.2% in the first five months of this year compared with a year ago.

— Clement Tan

Australia employment surges in May, blowing past expectations

Australia's employment numbers rose sharply in May, with employment rising by 75,900 in May compared to the 15,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters.

That's compared to net employment that fell to 4,000 in April, according to Reuters. The country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, slightly lower than April's 3.7%.

Employment is one of the key metrics that the Reserve Bank of Australia looks at to craft monetary policy, and the strong employment numbers raise the chance that the RBA could hike rates again at its next meeting in July.

— Lim Hui Jie

China lowers medium-term lending facility rate to 2.65%

China's central bank lowered its key medium-term lending rates, in a much anticipated move as the economy's post-Covid recovery continues to lose momentum.

The People's Bank of China lowered the rate on 237 billion yuan ($33 billion) of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions by 10 basis points to 2.65% from 2.75%.

The central bank last lowered the rate on 400 billion yuan of one-year MLF loans in August, making Thursday's move the first such cut in 10 months.

— Jihye Lee

Oil prices inch up following IEA report of oil demand peaking at 2028

Oil prices inched slightly higher Thursday following IEA's forecast of global oil demand growth peaking before the end of the decade.

Brent crude futures last traded 0.27% higher to $73.40 a barrel on that news, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.34% to $68.50 a barrel.

Annual demand growth is set to slow from current levels of 2.4 million barrels per day to 400,000 barrels per day in 2028, IEA said Wednesday, attributing the cut to the shift towards a clean energy economy.

There will also be a spare supply capacity of 4.1 million barrels per day, the agency further estimated.

—Lee Ying Shan

Japan exports rise 0.6% in May, beating expectations of a fall

Japan's exports in May rose 0.6% year on year, in sharp contrast to forecasts of a decline of 0.8% by economists polled by Reuters.

Exports came in at 7.29 billion yen ($52 million), compared to the 7.25 billion recorded in May 2022.

Imports also saw a smaller fall than expected, sliding just 9.9% year on year to 8.67 billion yen compared to 9.62 billion yen a year ago.

Japan's trade deficit fell 42% year-on-year to come in at 1.37 billion yen, compared to the 2.37 billion yen in May 2022.

— Lim Hui Jie

See what changed in the Fed statement

Click here to see a comparison of the June Fed statement with May's.

— Alex Harring

Stocks drop after Federal Reserve indicates more interest rate hikes are coming

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite shed earlier gains and turned negative shortly after the central bank indicated that though it was pausing on a June hike, the "dot plot" showed two more increases are coming.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 400 points, or about 1.2%.

-Darla Mercado

CNBC Pro: Apple's Vision Pro or Meta's Quest? Analysts dive into the future of VR tech

Apple and Meta are banking on virtual reality technology to be the next big thing in consumer electronics, but the jury appears to be still out on which company has the right strategy.

Apple's recent announcement of its Vision Pro headset, priced at $3,499, has drawn its fair share of criticism, but Andrew Uerkwitz, an equity analyst at Jefferies, does not see the hefty sum as a misstep.

Meanwhile, DA Davidson's Tom Forte Meta Platforms' Quest 3 benefiting from the momentum driven by Apple.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Federal Reserve keeps interest rates steady, but warns more hikes will be coming

The central bank is skipping a rate hike at its June meeting, as investors had expected. This move leaves the key fed funds rate steady at a range of 5% to 5.25%.

The Fed indicated that more increases will be coming after this pause, however. The announcement sent stocks lower.

Read the details on the Fed's decision here.

-Darla Mercado