Asia markets mixed ahead of crunch central bank meetings

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese EV makers rose after Nio said it would cut prices by 30,000 yuan ($4,198.74) for all models from June 12.

The move comes a month after the electric car company's CEO William Li told CNBC in an interview that Nio won't join the "price war" and slash prices like its U.S. rival Tesla.

Shares of Nio rose nearly 6% in Monday's afternoon trade and Xpeng gained 11%.

— Jihye Lee

People's Bank of China governor Yi Gang said that he expects China's second quarter gross domestic product to be "relatively high" thanks to a low base effect.

Yi, in a speech delivered in Shanghai last week, said that recent soft inflation prints reflect a delayed rise in demand levels and that he expects the consumer price index to pick up gradually in the second half of the year.

He reiterated his confidence in the economy reaching the government-set full-year growth target of about 5%.

Separately, China's Securities Daily cited economists expecting the central bank to take monetary easing measures by cutting the medium-term lending facility rate by 5 to 10 basis points on Thursday. The economists added there would be room for the reserve requirement ratio in the third quarter of this year.

— Jihye Lee

The Bank of Japan is likely to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy when it meets later this week, Reuters reported.

Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reported that the BOJ may also "signal that inflation is overshooting its forecasts." This may lead to the central bank upgrading its inflation view in July when it does a quarterly review.

However, the sources also told Reuters that an upgrade in its inflation view, should it happen, is "unlikely to automatically trigger an interest rate hike."

Previously, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda maintained his stance that an ultra-loose policy is needed until wages grow sustainably along with inflation.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japanese healthcare and technology stocks led gains in the Topix on Monday morning, led by pharmaceutical manufacturer Daiichi Sankyo that traded 2.44% higher and Sony Group that rose 1%.

Stocks of Japanese tech giant Softbank Group were up by over 2%, inching near its highest levels since Febuary.

Other top gainers also include electronics giant Sony, as well as automakers Honda Motor and Toyota Motor Corp.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan's wholesale prices rose 5.1% in May from the previous year, slightly lower than the 5.8% recorded in April.

The increase in the producer price index was the slowest rate in since July 2021, and lower than estimates from economists polled by Reuters that forecast a rise of 5.5%.

On a month-on-month basis, wholesale prices fell by 0.7%, sharply lower than the 0.2% expected by Reuters.

— Lim Hui Jie

Several investment banks are urging caution as the stock market continues its rally despite a worsening economic backdrop.

To that end, CNBC Pro screened over 3,330 large and mid-cap global equities that are part of the FTSE All-World ex-U.S. Index and identified the 13 stocks that analysts are most bearish toward.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Several investment banks are urging caution as the stock market continues its rally despite a worsening economic backdrop.

To that end, CNBC Pro screened over 3,330 large and mid-cap global equities that are part of the FTSE All-World ex-U.S. Index and identified the 13 stocks that analysts are most bearish toward.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

There's a risk that stocks will go downhill from here, says Paul Christopher, head of global market strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

"There is likely more downside risk in stocks at this point (a.k.a. Don't chase this equity rally)," he told CNBC. "Markets are too complacent in our opinion."

He explains why.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Global central bank meetings will be under the spotlight this week, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan as well as the European Central Bank.

On Monday, Japan's producer price index and China's new yuan loans are scheduled to be released. Indonesia's consumer confidence, Malaysia's retail sales and India's industrial production and inflation rates will be published as well.

Indonesia will publish its retail sales for the month of April on Tuesday. The U.S. consumer price index for May will be released as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) takes place on the 13 to the 14th.

South Korea's import and export prices for May will be out on Wednesday alongside its unemployment rate. China reports its foreign direct investment for the month of May. New Zealand is scheduled to release its first quarter current account print.

A slew of economic data from China will be released on Thursday, including its industrial production, retail sales, unemployment rate and home prices for the month of May.

New Zealand will publish its gross domestic product for the first quarter of this year also on Thursday, as Japan's balance of trade for May and its machinery orders for April will be released on the same day as its central bank's meeting will kick off. The Eurozone Central Bank will announce its latest interest rate decision overnight.

On Friday, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports for May will be published and the Bank of Japan will conclude its central bank meeting.

— Jihye Lee

U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting on June 13 and 14, where officials will announce a fresh interest rate decision.

Uncertainty about whether the central bank will continue or pause its rate-hiking campaign has spread recently, but jobs data released on Thursday prompted investors to believe the Fed will not increase rates again next week.

At 4:24 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was up by almost four basis points to 3.7529%. The 2-year Treasury yield was trading more than three basis points higher at 4.5556%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF reached a new 52-week high on Friday. LG Energy Solutions, Samsung Electronics, Kia and Posco Holdings led the gains.

The South Korea KOSPI also reached its highest level since June 2022.

— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla

Corporate earnings for the S&P 500 are expected to post a third consecutive decline in the second quarter, according to an estimate Friday from FactSet.

Profits are projected to decline 6.4% from a year ago during the April-through-June period. That would be the biggest drop since the pandemic-scarred second quarter of 2020 and worse than the 2.1% decrease from the first quarter.

On March 31, FactSet was expecting a 4.8% drop for the quarter. Since then, 66 companies have issued negative earnings guidance while 44 have issued a positive outlook.

FactSet's John Butters said the firm expects earnings to turn around in the second half of the year, increasing 0.8% in the third quarter and a robust 8.2% to close the year.

—Jeff Cox