Asia markets set for muted session; Apple suppliers to be watched after iPhone sales fall in China

Crude oil futures edged lower Tuesday as China’s pledged to boost economic growth and OPEC+ decision to extend its production cuts fell flat with traders.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April shed 59 cents, or 0.75%, to settle at $78.15 a barrel. May Brent futures lost 76 cents, or 0.92%, to settle at $82.04 a barrel.

The Beijing government on Tuesday set an economic growth target of about 5% for 2024 and announced the issuance of $138.9 billion in “ultra-long” special treasury bonds to fund major projects.

OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to extend crude production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day through the second quarter.

— Spencer Kimball

Weighed down by brewing overseas troubles, shares of Tesla slid nearly 5% by early afternoon during Tuesday’s trading session.

The electric vehicle maker’s losses were compounded by declining sales in China.

“Tesla’s China-made vehicle sales of ~60.4k vehicles were down 19% YoY in February from ~74.5k vehicles in the prior year, according to the China Passenger Car Association,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner in a Tuesday note.

However, the analyst supplied the caveat that these weak headline numbers were not solely limited to Tesla.

The company also faced a shutdown at a Berlin factory following a suspected arson attack. Production is not expected to resume this week, according to Tesla’s Berlin factory head, as reported by Reuters.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Bitcoin climbed to an all-time high on Tuesday, topping $69,000 and breaking a previous record set in 2021. The cryptocurrency hit a high around $69,210, according to Coin Metrics. It was last up about 1% at $68,307. The move comes amid excitement around bitcoin ETFs and the upcoming halving event.

— Fred Imbert