Japan +2.50%. Japan data – Final November Industrial production +0.2% m/m (prior -3.2%). Japan data: November Core Machinery Orders -8.3% m/m (expected -0.9%). BoJ holds rate, makes no change to yield range. The Bank of Japan surprised markets by keeping its yield curve tolerance band and ultra-dovish -0.1% interest rate unchanged. China +0.20%. Hong Kong +0.34%. Australia +0.10%. India +0.68%. Overnight on Wall Street, major stock indexes slid as investors struggled to build on the early 2023 momentum. The Dow lost 391.76 points, or 1.14%, to close at 33,910.85. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 3,990.97. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.14% to end the day at 11,095.11. New Zealand data – December card retail sales -2.5% m/m (November was +0.3%). Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s gains, driven by optimism that a relaxation of China’s strict Covid curbs will lead to a recovery in fuel demand in the world’s top oil importer. Brent crude futures were up 52 cents, or 0.6%, at $86.44 a barrel at 0151 GMT, following a 1.7% rally in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures gained 55 cents, or 0.7%, to $80.73 a barrel, having risen 0.4% on Tuesday. Gold prices inched lower on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar firmed, while expectations of a slowdown in the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes limited the losses. Spot gold dipped 0.3% to $1,902.79 per ounce, as of 0256 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,906.00. Spot silver fell 0.1% to $23.90 per ounce, platinum lost 0.6% to $1,033.06 and palladium dropped 0.2% to $1,740.30. U.S. futures higher. Dow Jones +0.03%; S&P 500 +0.11%; Nasdaq +0.14%.
