Asian markets mixed after Wall St records worst week of 2023; The Governor of the Bank of Japan addresses the Supreme Court of Japan

Global venture capital firm 500 Global is also bullish on the VC sector Startup funding is down 35% in 2022 And startups have seen a slowdown in growth from rising inflation and interest rates.

“There is definitely a decline in allocations to ventures this year, but it really depends on which markets you’re investing in and what the opportunities are in those markets,” Vishal Harnal, managing partner at 500 Global, told CNBC. Squawk Box Asia” Monday.

“I wouldn’t call it a funding winter,” he said. Instead, unprofitable startups are forced to become more cost-efficient and spend less money.

“Now that there’s been a shift or transition to a different way of doing business, another time, we’re changing the playbooks again,” Hurnell said, adding that $15 billion in venture capital is still to be deployed.

– Sheila Chiang

Demand for China’s reopening is not yet fully reflected in oil prices, said Paul Changi, president and lead analyst at Changi Research.

“The China data looks very buoyant from a movement and activity standpoint, but that’s not really showing up in oil prices,” he said, adding that oil prices are now not performing as well as they expected.

Brent crude futures rose 0.10% to $83.24 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures added 0.17% to $76.45 a barrel.

Changi added that OPEC member Saudi Arabia wants oil prices to stay above $10 where they are now.

“I think Saudi Arabia will manage the market during the summer and get to $100 a barrel,” he said.

– Lee Ying Shan

The People’s Bank of China was moderately bearish Quarterly reportReiterating its current position was deemed appropriate to support economic growth and stability.

The central bank reiterated its support for cross-cyclical adjustments to boost demand and provide strong support to the economy.

It reiterated its commitment to maintain adequate liquidity and credit growth while keeping its money supply and social finance growth at the pace of its nominal GDP.

The PBOC added to its required reserve ratio reductions last year, and without elaborating, was one of the tools the central bank used to ease lending.

– Jihye Lee

A bear market rally or the new bull market? Market pros are undecided about this year’s tech bounce, but investor Mark Howdin thinks the worst is yet to come.

While FAANG stocks are popular with many investors, Haddin believes some are riskier bets than others.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

– Javier Ong

Shares of South Korean chipmakers continued to slide on Monday.

Shares of major chipmakers such as Samsung and SK Hynix fell 1.63 and 1.54%, respectively, while LG Electronics saw a minor decline of 1.32%. The Kospi led losses overall in Asia, trading down 1.46%.

This comes after Reuters reported on Friday that the US would impose limits on chips made by South Korean companies in China.

Reuters quoted Alan Esteves, the U.S. Commerce Department’s undersecretary for industry and defense, as saying “there may be a limit to how much they can grow in China,” when asked what would happen after a waiver from the U.S. government—rules imposed on chipmakers in China—expire.

Shares of other major chipmakers also saw losses on Monday, with Taiwanese chipmakers Han Hai Precision Industry (also known as Foxconn) down 1.94% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing down 1.35%.

– Lim Hui Jie, Jihye Lee

Despite efforts by the US Federal Reserve to tighten monetary conditions, “the market has gone too far,” says Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Global Investors.

The strategist told CNBC how the Federal Reserve might act and when it might cut interest rates, which could lift stock markets.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said on Friday that interest rates will need to stay higher as inflation eases.

“I see that we need to bring interest rates above 5%,” he told CNBC’s Steve Leisman during a “Squawk Box” interview. “We’ll find out how much higher. It depends on how the economy develops over time. But I think we need to be above 5% to get inflation on a sustainable downward path. Up to 2%.”

Jan. Mester recently reported that he was among a small group of central bank officials on Feb. 31. 1 The Federal Open Market Committee approved a half-percentage-point rate hike rather than a quarter-point move.

– Jeff Cox

His firm China Renaissance said in a filing on Sunday that missing Chinese investment banker Bao Fan is cooperating with the government investigation.

“The board is aware that Mr. Bao is currently cooperating with the investigation being conducted by certain authorities in the People’s Republic of China,” the company said, adding that its business operations remained normal.

China Renaissance’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 29% after the company said on February 16 that it could not reach Bao. He is the company’s controlling shareholder, CEO and founder, among other roles.

– Evelyn Cheng

Some of the key economic events this week will be regional measures of purchasing managers’ index, Japan’s industrial production and Australia’s GDP.

New Zealand is due to report its fourth-quarter retail sales on Monday, while Taiwan observes Peace Memorial Day until Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Japan is scheduled to release its industrial production and retail sales, while Australia will report its current account for the fourth quarter.

India will also report GDP for the fourth quarter on Tuesday. Overnight, US consumer confidence for February will also be released.

Markets in South Korea will be closed on March 1 for Independence Day.

On Wednesday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics will release the government’s reading of the Purchasing Managers’ Index, after showing a 50.1 growth in January.

Australia will release its inflation measure and GDP for the fourth quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had expected to see seasonally adjusted growth of 2.8% on an annual basis.

Indonesia will also announce its February consumer price index, which is expected to rise to 5.42% from the previous reading of 5.28%, according to a Reuters poll.

On Thursday, fourth-quarter trade data from New Zealand and industrial production and retail sales from South Korea will be released. The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for South Korea is also scheduled to be released.

On Friday, Japan’s unemployment rate for January was expected to be 2.5% in January, according to a Reuters poll. Tokyo’s consumer price index is expected to rise 3.3% in January for all goods except fresh food.

– Jihye Lee

According to Baird analyst Ross Mayfield, the market is currently experiencing the effects of “too much good news at once.” As inflation heats up and the Federal Reserve is expected to continue raising rates, Mayfield advises investors to “control what” [they] can be controlled.”

“First, automate things: dollar cost averaging (investing at regularly scheduled intervals) is a great way to find outperformance in volatile/sideways markets,” Mayfield wrote in a Friday note.

“Second, review your allocation and make sure you’re well-diversified and well-planned.”

– Hakyung Kim

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, ending their worst week of 2023.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 336 points, or 1.0%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.0% and 1.7%, respectively. The Dow fell 510 points, or 1.54%, in the earlier trading session.

– Hakyung Kim