Asia markets slide further as market rally pauses on Wall Street

Thailand’s consumer confidence index reached its highest level in more than three years in May

The index rose to 55.7 in May from 55.0 in April, the highest level since February 2020’s reading of 64.2, marking the twelfth consecutive month of increased readings.

The indicator remains below 100-point mark that separates improving outlook from a deteriorating trajectory.

Reuters reported that this was due to higher foreign tourist arrivals and increased activity during the recent national election.

The report also added that the spending during the May election helped fuel consumption, and confidence was also boosted by a better-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter.

— Lim Hui Jie

The Reserve Bank of India held its key repurchase rate at 6.5% in May for a second straight month.

The Indian rupee slightly weakened 0.1% after the announcement and last traded at 82.56 against the U.S. dollar.

All 64 economists polled by Reuters expected the central bank to leave the repo rate at 6.50% for a second straight meeting. India’s monetary policy committee includes three members from the RBI and three external members.

The RBI held its repurchase rate at 6.5% last month, marking the first time it had done so since April 2022.

The repurchase rate, or repo rate, is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends money to commercial banks or financial institutions in India against government securities. 

 — Clement Tan

The roughly 90% jump in China’s imports for coal and lignite in May indicates the rise in demand for coal in the economy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Vivek Dhar said in a Thursday note.

“The rise in imports in the first five months of 2023 has been accompanied by an increase in China’s domestic coal output,” Dhar said in a daily note, adding China’s industrial output data from the beginning of 2023 confirms the narrative of an increase in the superpower’s demand for coal.

Elsewhere, copper futures for July hit a high of $3.8115 per pound on Wednesday, marking the highest since May 11 when it traded as high as $3.8555 per pound. Futures last traded at $3.7445 in Asia’s morning.

Separately on oil, international benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.14% to $76.64 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures stood 0.11% lower to $72.45.

—Lee Ying Shan, Gina Francolla

Australia’s trade surplus slid to 11.16 billion Australian dollars ($7.44 billion) in April, sharply lower than the AU$14 billion expected by economists polled by Reuters, government data showed Thursday.

Most notably, total exports from the country slipped 5% to AU$56.18 billion, compared to a 4% rise in April.

Exports of goods fell 7% compared to April, but services exports gained 7.8%.

Total imports grew 1.6% compared to March to AU$45.02 billion, with imports of goods and services increasing 1.1% and 3.7% respectively compared to March.

The Australian dollar rose 0.14% to 0.6659 against the U.S. dollar.

Japan’s economy grew an annualized 2.7% in the first quarter of the year, expanding further than earlier estimates of 1.6% made last month, government data showed, as the economy continues to see robust spending.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected to see growth of 1.9%.

The Japanese yen strengthened by 0.14% to 139.98 against the U.S. dollar shortly after the release. Quarter-on-quarter, the economy expanded by 0.7%, beating estimates by Reuters of 0.5%.

Private demand rose by 1.2% and domestic demand also rose by 1%, while exports of goods and services saw a drop of 4.2%. Imports also fell by 2.3%, revised government estimates showed.

– Jihye Lee

Bank of America has named a European insurance giant as one of its top picks in the insurance sector, given its attractively low valuation.

In addition to the generous dividend yield, the investment bank expects shares to rise by 30% over the next 12 months.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Goldman Sachs is bullish about generative artificial intelligence: It expects it will drive upside in the broader S&P 500 — and one specific corner of tech.

It gives the fair value upside for the S&P 500, and lists stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

During what has been a strong day for small-cap names, mega-cap stocks have underperformed the market.

Shares of tech giants Microsoft and Google pared down 2.7% and 3.3%, respectively. Several semiconductor names also saw shares pull back after rallying the previous week. Nvidia lost 1.1%, while Qualcomm shares fell 1.2%.

Financial services companies Visa and Mastercard dropped 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

— Hakyung Kim

The U.S. trade deficit rose sharply in April, though the increase wasn’t quite as much as expected.

The goods and services imbalance hit $74.6 billion for the month, $1 billion less than the Dow Jones estimate but a $14 billion increase from March. Exports tumbled by $9.2 billion, while imports rose by $4.8 billion.

Imports are a net negative for GDP, so the April figure could mean lower growth for the second quarter.

—Jeff Cox

Shares of Warner Bros Discovery rallied nearly 5% in midday trading after CNN announced CEO Chris Licht was leaving.

CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros Discovery, said Licht was out after a rocky year at the helm that included criticism over the network’s town hall with former president Donald Trump. He was also facing a rebellion among the talent and staff.

Amazon is planning to create ad-supported subscription tiers for Prime Video, according to a report from the WSJ. The move would come as other competitor streaming services also create ad-supported tiers to generate more revenue for their streaming services.

The company is also in talks with Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery to potentially add the ad-based tiers of their streaming services onto Prime Video Channels, per the report.

Amazon shares were down more than 3% Wednesday afternoon.