Korean GDP, Malaysian CPI, Bank of Japan MPM meeting

The Japanese yen rose above 155 yen against the US dollar, hitting a new 34-year low.

The currency last traded at 155.37 against the dollar.

Japanese authorities have acknowledged the yen’s weakness for almost a month, but investors are waiting for clearer measures to stem the decline.

The Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision on Friday will be closely monitored not only for its inflation outlook, but also for any measures it takes to address the weaker yen.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 3.4% in the first quarter, beating the 2.4% forecast by economists polled by Reuters and marking the highest quarterly growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2021. Recorded.

GDP increased by 1.3% from the previous quarter, exceeding Reuters’ forecast of a 0.6% increase.

Exports from South Korea in the first quarter increased by 0.9% due to an increase in exports of IT items such as mobile phones. Imports decreased by 0.7% due to a decrease in imports of electronic equipment.

— Lim Huijie

Despite the recent price drop, Bitcoin is expected to see further price gains in the second half of this year, according to a top crypto analyst at Standard Chartered.

Bitcoin will rise to $150,000 per coin and Ether will reach $8,000 by the end of 2024, Jeffrey Kendrick, head of foreign exchange research at Standard Chartered’s West Digital Asset Research, said in a research note this week. He said he expected it to reach that level. A bullish forecast issued by the bank earlier this year.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ryan Braun

Attractive returns and breadth of opportunity are among the many reasons investors have historically preferred investing in the United States over Europe.

However, one strategist has a keen eye on European stocks, pointing out that “Europe is not a boring market.”

There are major growth factors, [and investors] “You need to dig a little deeper than in the U.S., where it’s very easy to find growth stocks right now,” said Michael Field, European market strategist at Morningstar.

“Europe is structuring. Looking at the current macroeconomic environment, European stocks could have a bigger tailwind than U.S. stocks,” he added, listing his favorite stocks at the moment.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amara Balakrishna

Tony Dwyer, chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity, told CNBC on Wednesday that he remains optimistic about the stock market in 2024 despite the recent swoon.

“Our game plan heading into this year was to take some corrective action based on the historic performance we’ve had and we’re in the process of doing that. “I think it’s going to work out if we do that, to have a really good end to the year,” Dwyer said on “Squawk on the Street.”

Dwyer said broad-based earnings growth would support stock prices and there could be multiple rate cuts this year. He said the market is now becoming overly pessimistic about rate cuts.

“Just one rate cut may be excessive, just as the seven rate cuts at the end of December were excessive,” Dwyer said.

— Jesse Pound

Three stocks combined to drag down the Dow Jones Industrial Average by a combined 60 points on Wednesday.

Home Depot is 26 points below average, McDonald’s is 19 points below average, and Johnson & Johnson is about 15 points below average.

Unlike the market capitalization-weighted S&P 500 Index, where larger companies have a greater impact on calculations and smaller companies have less influence, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been based on the stock prices of individual companies since its founding in the 19th century. has been dependent on. Currently, for every $1 move in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the average price moves up or down by 6.59 points.

— Scott Schnipper