US gains and Hong Kong gains

Shares of Chinese electric vehicle companies listed in Hong Kong rose in late morning trading after Chinese Ministry of Commerce It revealed its plan for the “healthy development of new energy vehicles” in the country.

BYD shares rose 2.7%, Nio shares jumped 3.3%, while Xpeng and Li Auto shares rose 1.2% each.

“The healthy development of trade cooperation in new energy vehicles will help promote the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry, and play an important supporting role in achieving stability and improving the structure of foreign trade,” the statement said.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3%, while the CSI 300 rose 0.4%.

Earlier this year, BYD produced more than 3 million new energy vehicles in 2023, beating US electric vehicle leader Tesla's production numbers for the second year in a row.

– Shreyashi Sanyal

Shares of Kakaobank jumped 7% on Wednesday after the digital payments company reported higher fourth-quarter earnings.

Company The fourth quarter Net profit rose nearly 25% to KRW 75.7 billion ($57.2 million) compared to the previous year.

Kakaobank added 2.42 million new users to its platform, an increase of 11.8%.

The company's operating revenue was KRW 663.7 billion ($501 million), an increase of approximately 37% from the same quarter last year.

– Shreyashi Sanyal

Australian energy company Santos was the biggest loser in the S&P/ASX 200 on Wednesday after merger talks with Woodside ended on Wednesday.

Santos shares fell as much as 8.5%, while Woodside shares rose 2.38%.

Woodside said in an exchange document that the two sides “have halted discussions on a potential merger.”

Santos also confirmed this announcement: “Following the initial exchange of information, sufficient merger benefits have not been identified to support a merger that would be in the best interests of Santos shareholders.”

– Lim Hui Ji

Shares of DBS Group, Southeast Asia's largest bank, rose 1.6% in early trading after announcing a rise in fourth-quarter earnings.

Singapore Bank mentioned Q4 net profit was S$2.39 billion, 2% higher than the S$2.34 billion recorded a year ago. The company benefited from higher interest rates.

But despite record profits in 2023, the bank cut compensation for its senior management, including its CEO, Piyush Gupta.

Variable compensation was collectively reduced 21% from the prior year representing a series of digital disruptions during the year. DBS said Gupta took a larger stake of 30%, which amounted to S$4.14 million.

DBS was the first of Singapore's big three banks to announce fourth-quarter earnings. It maintained its full-year net interest income forecast for 2024 at the same levels as last year.

The bank proposed a final dividend of 54 cents per share and a 1-in-10 bonus issue.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose nearly 1% in the first hour of trading.

– Shreyashi Sanyal

New Zealand Unemployment rate in the fourth quarter Growth came at 4%, less than the 4.2% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

It was higher than the 3.9% rate in the previous quarter, and also more than the 3.4% recorded in the December 2022 quarter.

The country's participation rate fell marginally to 71.9% in the fourth quarter, lower than the 72% recorded in the third quarter.

– Lim Hui Ji

The Nikkei 225, one of Japan's most important stock market indexes, could rise more than 50% over the next two years, according to Tokyo-based consultant Jasper Kohl.

The former head of equity research at JP Morgan Japan has revealed what is needed to push stocks higher.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

-Ganesh Rao

Competition is fierce in the electric car industry, with investor favorite Tesla competing with a large number of Chinese rivals.

But Jason Hsu, chairman and chief investment officer of Rayliant Global Advisors, believes one stock will come out on top.

According to FactSet, analysts covering the stock are giving it a potential upside of 81.1% average price target, while giving it a 94% Buy rating.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

-Weezin Tan

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester on Tuesday became the latest central banker to call for a patient approach to interest rate cuts this year.

Like several other officials who have spoken recently, Meester said she is not ready to start easing policy until she gains more confidence that inflation is on a stable path toward the Fed's 2% target. She added that a strong economy allows policymakers to postpone any radical moves.

“If the economy develops as expected, I think we will gain that confidence later this year, and then we can start to Reducing interest rates. To give a speech in her home region. “My rule of thumb is that we will do this at a gradual pace so that we can continue to manage the risks to both sides of our jurisdiction.”

Markets have backed off expectations for the first cut into May, with a total of five quarter-point moves lower, according to the CME Group's FedWatch gauge of futures.

—Jeff Cox

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as US domestic crude production is expected to stabilize this year after hitting a record in 2023.

The West Texas Intermediate March contract added 53 cents, or 0.73%, to settle at $73.31 a barrel. The April Brent contract settled at $78.59 a barrel, up 60 cents, or 0.77 percent.

US crude production hit a record high of 13.3 million barrels per day in December before falling to 12.6 million barrels per day in January due to winter storms, according to data issued by the Energy Information Agency.

Domestic production is expected to briefly return to 13.3 million barrels per day in February, but will then decline through the middle of the year, according to the Energy Information Administration. The United States will not exceed its record production of 13.3 million barrels per day until February 2025.

Record US crude oil production has weighed on oil prices for months, as traders worry about oversupply in the market amid China's faltering economy.

-Spencer Kimball

The price of Bitcoin rose 2% in the afternoon, sending cryptocurrency-related stocks higher.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rose more than 2%, while bitcoin proxy Microstrategy added 1.8%. Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, the largest Bitcoin miners, achieved gains of 4% and 3%, respectively.

The move in Bitcoin coincided with a decline in the 10-year Treasury yield, raising concerns about US regional banks. New York Community Bancorp stock fell more than 20% on Tuesday, continuing the selloff that began Wednesday. The Invesco KBW Regional Banking ETF lost 1.5%. Last year's regional banking crisis proved to be a positive catalyst for Bitcoin as investors who had lost confidence in banks turned to the cryptocurrency as a hedge against uncertainty.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrencies, Ethereum jumped more than 4%, partly supported by Bitcoin. It got a boost earlier in the day as investors rolled into the coin linked to the Solana network, which suffered a brief outage in the morning.

– Tanya Machel

With just over half of the S&P 500 companies reporting earnings for the previous quarter, here's what's stacking up this season, according to LSEG.

• Earnings rose 8.1% year over year
• Profits beat analysts' expectations by 6.3%
• Revenue rose 3.2% year over year
• Revenue exceeded expectations by 1.3%

– Jesse Pound, Robert Home