China CPI, PPI; Fed December minutes

China’s consumer price inflation in December slipped to 0.1% year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday, stoking deflation concerns.

Growth in headline inflation was in line with Reuters estimates, but less than the 0.2% rise in November. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.4% year on year compared with 0.3% rise in the previous month, the data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, China’s CPI came in flat, compared with the 0.6% decline in the prior month.

Food prices fell by 0.6% month on month as a result of conducive weather conditions, official statistics showed. The prices of fresh vegetables and fruits fell 2.4% and 1%, respectively. Prices of pork, which makes up a significant portion of the CPI basket, fell 2.1%.

— Lee Ying Shan

Australia’s goods trade surplus in November climbed to a 10-month high, as exports growth outpaced imports amid sluggish domestic consumer demand.

The seasonally adjusted trade surplus widened to 7.08 billion Australian dollars ($4.39 billion) in November, the highest level since February last year, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The value of exports grew 4.8% month-on-month while imports rose 1.7%.

Separately, the country’s retail sales rose less than expected in November, despite the seasonal impact from the pre-Christmas and Black Friday discounts, underscoring tepid domestic consumer demand.

The seasonally adjusted sales rose 0.8% from the previous month, lagging the forecast of a 1.0% jump in a Reuters poll.

— Anniek Bao

A summary of the Fed’s December meeting showed central bank officials were concerned about how policies from the incoming Trump administration could impact inflation.

“Almost all participants judged that upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased,” the minutes said. “In discussing the outlook for monetary policy, participants indicated that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing.”

— Fred Imbert

Stocks wavered throughout most of the day, with the S&P 500 registering a small advance.

The broad market index added 0.16% to close at 5,918.25. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.06% to end at 19,478.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 106.84 points, or 0.25%, to close at 42,635.20.

— Pia Singh

Shares of Hyundai Motor Corp jumped on Thursday as the South Korean auto giant announced an investment plan worth 24.3 trillion won ($16.65 billion) in the country this year.

That marked the company’s largest annual investment in the country and a significant uptick from its budget last year of 20.4 trillion won, according to local media Yonhap News.

Nearly half of the investment will be used for research and development of next-generation products, Reuters reported, while the remaining amount will be earmarked for investment purposes, such as upgrading production lines and strategic investments such as autonomous driving.

Hyundai Motor Group, including Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Corp, ranks as the world’s third-largest automaker by sales, trailing behind Toyota Motor and Volkswagen.

Hyundai Motor and Kia saw their shares jump as much as 2.8% and 3.8% respectively, according to LSEG data, while the broader Kospi index was flat.

— Anniek Bao

Goldman Sachs is cautious on Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings, removing it from its Asia-Pacific “conviction list” of top picks.

The investment bank also removed several other stocks from the list and added others, including one it gives nearly 50% upside.

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— Amala Balakrishner

MediaTek, the Taiwanese semiconductor company collaborating with Nvidia on its newly announced small AI supercomputer, is expected to see significant financial benefits from the partnership starting in 2026, according to Bernstein.

Nvidia’s desktop supercomputer, priced starting at $3,000, is set to launch in May 2025.

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— Ganesh Rao