China trade, Singapore GDP Taylor Swift boost

China’s exports fell far short of expectations in March, recording a 7.5% fall year on year.

This was far more than the 2.3% decline expected by economists polled by Reuters, and a reversal from the 7.1% year-on-year gain in the combined first two months of the year.

Total trade in the world’s second-largest economy also slid 5.1% year-on-year to $500.8 billion. China’s trade surplus shrunk more than expected to $58.55 billion, compared to the $70.2 billion expected in the Reuters poll.

— Lim Hui Jie

The Bank of Korea bank left its key policy rate unchanged for the 10th consecutive time at 3.50%.

The central bank noted in a statement that it is still “premature to be confident that inflation will converge on the target level” given how there is a “high degree of uncertainty associated with the outlook for consumer price inflation.”

South Korea’s consumer prices rose 3.1% year on year in March, still far off from its 2% target.

“The Board, therefore, will keep its restrictive monetary policy stance for a sufficient period of time until such confidence is established,” the bank said.

—Lee Ying Shan

Singapore’s first-quarter gross domestic product grew 2.7% year on year, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Friday.

This was faster than the 2.2% uptick in the October to December quarter.

The city-state’s manufacturing sector grew by 0.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, compared with a 1.4% growth in the previous quarter, MTI said.

Wholesale and retail trade, and transportation and storage sector grew 2.7% year on year compared with 1.4% in the previous quarter.

— Charmaine Jacob

Singapore’s monetary authority has held its policy steady, leaving the width and level of its policy band unchanged.

Unlike other economies, Singapore uses exchange rate settings to decide monetary policy instead of a benchmark rate, where it shifts its policy band to adjust the strength of the Singapore dollar against an undisclosed basket of currencies.

The monetary authority also said it expects inflation in the city-state to stay elevated in the immediate quarters ahead, before “stepping down more discernibly” the fourth quarter of 2024 and into 2025.

— Lim Hui Jie

Goldman Sachs has refreshed its “conviction list” of top picks in Asia Pacific for April by adding some stocks and removing others.

The bank remains optimistic on the region, noting that it has a “solid 2Q outlook.”

“Five factors are likely to influence Asian market performance in 2Q: the start of a rate cutting cycle, led by the Fed; elections and geopolitics; 1Q earnings results; market-specific policy; and (less fundamentally, but notably) seasonality,” the investment bank’s analysts said, as they unveiled their latest additions to the list.

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— Amala Balakrishner

Many shares look expensive in today’s market, but there are still cheap stocks to be found — some of which can be held for the next 10 years, according to the pros.

They shared with CNBC Pro their tips for picking cheap stocks that hold long-term promise, as well as their top picks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

South Korea’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.8% in March, up from 2.6% in February.

The labor force participation rate stood at 64.3% in March, up 0.2 percentage points year on year.

Separately, the employment to population ratio stood at 62.4% , up 0.2 percentage point compared with the same period last year.

— Lim Hui Jie

Crude oil futures fell Thursday as worries about inflation overshadowed fears of a potential Iranian strike on Israel for the moment.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery lost $1.19, or 1.38%, to settle at $85.02 a barrel. The June Brent futures contract fell 74 cents, or 0.82%, to settle at $89.74 a barrel.

Oil prices rose more than 1% Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. and its allies see an Iranian strike against Israel as imminent.

But the geopolitical risk that lifted prices in the previous session pulled back on Thursday as the attack has not materialized yet, according to Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group.

— Spencer Kimball

Amazon shares added 1.7% Thursday and hit an all-time high. This marked the first time the stock notched a record high since July 2021.

CEO Andy Jassy released his annual shareholder letter on Thursday, where he pledged to lower costs while furthering investments in new areas such as artificial intelligence.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Thursday that he still expects inflation to continue to pull back this year, though he acknowledged the process will not be smooth.

“I expect inflation to continue its gradual return to 2 percent, although there will likely be bumps along the way, as we’ve seen in some recent inflation readings,” the central bank official said in a speech to bankers in New York.

The comments come the day after the consumer price index reading for March showed inflation running at a 3.5% annual rate, well above the Fed’s 2% goal. While he noted the progress on inflation from its peak — above 9% in June 2022 — he said the Fed’s work is not done.

“The economy has come a long way toward achieving better balance and reaching our 2% inflation goal. But we have not seen the total alignment of our dual mandate quite yet. I am committed to achieving maximum employment and price stability over the long term,” he said.

— Jeff Cox

The producer price index rose 0.2% in March, as investors try to navigate a bevy of mixed inflation signals. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 0.3% for the PPI. Core CPI rose 0.2%, as expected.

— Fred Imbert