New Zealand delivers its biggest rate hike ever; Asia-Pacific stocks mixed ahead of Fed minutes

New Zealand dollar strengthened to 0.6192 against the dollar after the central bank raised rates by 75 basis points, its biggest hike on record.

The NZD last traded at 0.6170 against the dollar and the NZX 50 index in New Zealand fell 0.8%.

The New Zealand 10-year Treasury yield briefly touched 4.305% shortly after the decision, and last traded at 4.235%. Yields move inversely to prices, and a basis point is equal to 0.01%.

– Lee Ying Shan

Singapore’s economy is projected to grow around 3.5% in 2022, according to forecasts from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, citing a softening external demand outlook following Europe’s energy crunch and China’s continued Covid-related restrictions.

The figure is a narrowed estimate from its previous projected range of between 3% and 4% — and reflects the third quarter’s 4.1% annualized growth and 1.1% growth from the previous quarter.

The ministry also said it sees the nation’s 2023 GDP growth to be between 0.5% to 2.5%.

— Jihye Lee

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its official cash rates by 75 basis points, its biggest hike on record, to 4.25%.

The decision is in line with analysts’ expectations, according to a Reuters poll.

It is the ninth consecutive hike since the RBNZ first started its rate hike cycle in October 2021, five of which were 50 basis point hikes.

New Zealand’s Inflation currently stands at 7.2%, just below three-decade highs.

— Lee Ying Shan

Investors should take advantage of the bumpy ride in Chinese tech stocks to move into smaller and less established companies, according to Eva Lee, head of greater China equities at UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment office.

“Under the current regulation, the second tier players will do better than the top ones. Use this opportunity to rotate to companies that are second tier,” such as those with resilient income, she told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”

Additionally, tech giants are perceived to be “macro recovery [proxies], and the path to an eventual full reopening is “going to be up and down, it’s going to be choppy,” she said.

“We are moving over there eventually but it takes time,” she said.

— Abigail Ng

Stocks rose Tuesday with all three major averages gaining more than 1% as Wall Street bet that interest rate hikes and inflation will ease heading into the end of the year. The S&P 500 also closed at a level not seen since September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 397.82 points, or 1.18%, higher at 34,098.10. The Nasdaq Composite also gained 1.36% to 11.174.41.

The S&P 500 rose 1.36% to close at 4,003.58, its first close above the 4,000 level since September.

—Carmen Reinicke

Nineteen stocks in the S&P 500 hit 52-week highs so far Tuesday and, of those, 16 (84%) also touched all-time highs. Three of the 19 (TRV, MRK, IBM) are also in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and two of those are among the all-time highs:

• General Parts Co. (GPC), highest since a 1948 IPO
• O’Reilly Auto (ORLY), all-time high since 1993 IPO
• TJX Cos. (TJX), all-time high back to 1987 IPO
• General Mills (GIS), all-time highs back through history dating from 1927
• Monster Beverage (MNST), all-time high back to predecessor’s Nasdaq listing in 1992
• Pepsico (PEP), highest ever, going back to Pepsi-Cola’s merger with Frito-Lay in 1965
• Marathon Petroleum (MPC), all-time high back to spinoff from Marathon Oil in 2011
• Aflac Inc. (AFL), all-time back through CNBC data history in 1973
• Arthur J Gallagher (AJG), all-time high back to 1984 IPO
• Globe Life (GL), all-time high back to predecessor’s data in 1980
• MetLife (MET), all-time high back to going public in 2000
• Progressive (PGR), all-time high back to 1971 IPO
• Travelers (TRV), all-time high back to spin-off from Citi in 2002
• Gilead Sciences (GILD), highest since April 2020
• Merck & Co. (MRK), all-time high back through CNBC history starting in 1978
• PACCAR (PCAR), all-time high back to 1971 IPO
• Quanta Services (PWR), all-time high back to 1998 IPO
• Snap-On (SNA), highest since June 2021
• International Business Machines (IBM), highest since Feb. 2020

There were two 52-week lows in the S&P 500 early Tuesday:

• Tesla (TSLA), lowest since Nov. 2020
• Medtronic (MDT), lowest since March 2020

No comment.

— Scott Schnipper and Christopher Hayes