China’s National Health Commission publishes guidelines for treating Covid at home
China’s health authorities announced guidelines for treating Covid patients at home on Thursday, a day after formalizing a policy that allows most infected patients to quarantine at home as part of mitigation measures in the country.
The notice on the National Health Commission’s website said patients should isolate in a separate room if possible, and self-administer antigen tests.
While it noted that patients with acute symptoms should go to hospital, the announcement included instructions for patients with milder symptoms to monitor their health at home and take medication as needed.
The commission included a list of drugs used to treat Covid symptoms.
Health authorities are scheduled to hold a press conference at 3 p.m. local time.
– Abigail Ng, Evelyn Cheng
Hong Kong considers scrapping rules on outdoor masks: Report
Fitch expects home prices in Australia and China to decline in 2023
Fitch Ratings expects home prices in Australia to see a significant drop of between 7% to 10% next year, it said in its latest outlook report.
The agency also predicts that China’s home prices will fall by 1% to 3% next year.
“We expect prices to decline further in 2023 before leveling off, but mortgage yields will only deteriorate modestly, in the face of economic headwinds,” Fitch Ratings’ Tracy Wan said in the report.
However, home prices in Japan could buck the trend to rise by 2% to 4% in 2023, the report said. Australia’s prices are expected to rise in 2024.
– Jihye Lee
Japan’s economy shrank more than expected in the third quarter
Japan’s economy saw an annual three-month contraction of 0.8% in the third quarter, with the revised gross domestic product reading beating expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1% contraction.
The government’s first preliminary estimate released in November was a 1.2% decline.
The nation also reported a deficit of 64.1 billion yen ($469.3 million) in its unadjusted current account balance, government data showed. The reading significantly missed estimates for a surplus of 623.4 billion yen in a separate Reuters poll.
– Jihye Lee
Australia’s trade surplus larger than expected in October
Australia’s trade surplus for October came in at 12.2 billion Australian dollars ($8.19 billion), slightly larger than expected, official data showed.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted a print of A$12.1 billion, expecting a further drop than reported – after the economy saw a trade surplus of A$12.4 billion.
Exports fell 0.9%, and imports decreased 0.7%.
— Abigail Ng
Stocks close mostly lower
Stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 sliding 0.19% to close at 3,933.92.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat, or 1.58 points higher, to end the session at 33,597.92. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.51% to end at 10,958.55.
— Samantha Subin
CNBC Pro: Bank of America says these two global chip stocks could rise 75% on EV car sales
A shortage of semiconductors amid a boom in electric car sales could help boost profits at a handful of chip makers, according to Bank of America.
The Wall Street bank predicted that two chip stocks could see their share prices rise by more than 75% on the back of that trend.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Ganesh Rao
Expected economic data could launch a rally into next year, says Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon
Don’t be surprised if economic data coming out over the next week triggers a rally through the end of the year and possibly 2023, according to Andrew Slimmon, the senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
The key period of data releases begins on Friday with the producer price index, followed by November’s consumer price index and another likely rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week.
“The last time they were released, they all led to rallies in the stock market because we had better inflation prints,” he said.
Like many investors, Slimmon expects a decline going forward, given the inverted yield curve, but doesn’t anticipate the “big earnings collapse,” or decline, many people are predicting in the first quarter.
This is partly due to the fact that many consumers have stepped up savings in recent years due to the proximity of the most recent recession.
“The message this year is that the economy has proven much more resilient than many people expect and I don’t think the next quarter will be the end of that,” he said.
— Samantha Subin
CNBC Pro: Is Apple a stock to buy or avoid? Two investors face off
It’s been a tumultuous year for technology companies, as investors flee growth stocks in the face of rising interest rates and other headwinds.
an apple held better amid the technical carnage, although there were some headwinds.
Two investors took on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday to make a case for and against buying the stock.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
