South Korea inflation, China reopening

Former Bank of Japan deputy governor Hirohide Yamaguchi is emerging as a candidate to head the central bank, according to local Japanese media. sankei reportedciting people familiar with the matter.

Yamaguchi, who served as a deputy at the central bank until 2013, has been an outspoken critic of incumbent Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s ultra-tame monetary policy.

The paper added that Yamaguchi would signal a departure from former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic stimulus strategy, also known as “Abenomics.”

Sankei reported that Yamaguchi is drawing attention as current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida moves away from a stimulus-oriented monetary stance, and that the appointment of the next central bank chief would become clear next month.

–Jihye Lee

With Hong Kong reopening, foreign nationals may be less willing to move to Singapore, said Alvin Liew, a senior economist at United Overseas Bank.

“Singapore has benefited in terms of the talent pool that came here because of the stricter rules in Hong Kong itself,” Liew said, adding that the influence of the workforce moving to Singapore “may lessen a bit.” now that the city has reopened.

“The talent pool itself may be less inclined to move here,” the Singapore-based economist said.

Liew also added that Hong Kong’s reopening is a step in the right direction for the region to “get back to normal,” Liew said.

–Charmaine Jacob

Chinese markets will likely see a “tactical bounce” of recovery next year, Port Shelter Investment Management said.

“It goes without saying that we are likely to see a tactical bounce,” Richard Harris, the firm’s chief executive, told CNBC.

“It will be tactical, because China, at the end of the day, has to fit in with the rest of the world,” he said.

Harris expects China’s recovery to take place in the first quarter of the year and continue sentiment into the second quarter as well.

This recovery also depends on many currently unknown elements, such as whether a strong stimulus will be injected into the Chinese economy and what will be done about inflation when the economy recovers, he added.

—Lee Yingshan

The Singapore listing CSI Star and ChiNext 50 Index Exchange Traded Fund can bring liquidity from mainland China to Singapore, Ding Chen, CEO of CSOP Asset Management, told CNBC’s “Asian squawk box.”

The company’s ETF was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange on Friday and is a sub-fund of the CSOP SG ETF Series I, a Singapore unit trust, according to the fund’s page.

“Through SGX, Singapore investors and global investors can also gain access to China-listed ETFs,” Ding said, adding that investors from China can also directly invest in Singapore ETFs.

When asked about the evolution of the company’s ETF portfolio, Ding said it will “bring a younger and emerging generation of technology companies to the market.”

-Sheila Chiang

South Korea’s December consumer price index rose 5% on an annualized basis, statistics from the bank of korea He showed.

The reading held cooler levels for the month and was unchanged from November.

The impression is in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters.

–Jihye Lee

All the major averages ended higher on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 345.09 points, or 1.05%. The S&P 500 gained 1.75% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.59% to 10,478.09.

—Tanaya Macheel

Jobless claims rose last week amid efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and, in particular, the job market.

First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 225,000 for the week ending Dec. 1. 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was an increase of 9,000 from the previous week and slightly above the Dow Jones estimate of 223,000.

Longer-term continuing claims, which are a week below the headline figure, rose to 1.71 million, an increase of 41,000 to the highest level since early February.

The numbers at this time of year are always loud due to the holidays. Claims not adjusted for seasonal factors increased by 23,146, an increase of 9.3%.

—Jeff Cox

Biotech will remain a “stock picker’s market” in 2023, according to Citi.

The bank explains how biotech could work based on various economic scenarios and names three main options for 2023.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

—Weizhen Tan