Hong Kong shares soar 2% as Alibaba raises tech stocks; Asian markets tend to rise

According to Brendan Ahern, CIO of KraneShares, Alibaba’s major upheaval could be followed by its Chinese technology colleagues.

“I think investors are saying what we’ve seen with Alibaba, the really leading Chinese tech company, that their plans could be leveraged by others,” Ahern said, citing the ADR measures taken overnight by Tencent, JD.com and Baidu were observed.

Shares of Tencent are up 2.5% in Hong Kong morning trade, Meituan is up 4.6%, Baidu is up nearly 2% and Kuaishou is up 3.8%.

He added the company’s announcement shows that Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who was recently spotted in China after spending months abroad, was involved in the process.

“It’s very clear that he has played a role in this new structure, which is really about what the company said in the press release, it’s about unlocking shareholder value,” Ahern said.

– Jihye Lee

Oil prices are seeing a rebound as the situation stabilizes after the recent banking turmoil, said S&P Vice Chairman Dan Yergin.

“What we’ve seen over the past few days is a sense that the situation has stabilized … which in turn has led to some increase in oil prices,” he told CNBC’s Squawk Box.

Oil benchmarks traded higher after a volatile week of trading. Brent crude futures were up 0.25% to $78.85 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 0.6% to $73.96 a barrel.

Asked if oil prices will have a hard time hitting $100 a barrel, Yergin agreed “unless something dramatic happens,” adding that air travel in China has not yet reached the highs need to recover from 2019.

– Lee Ying Shan

Australia’s monthly pace of inflation for February was 6.8%, slower than the same period a year ago.

This is lower than January’s reading of 7.4% and also lower than the 7.1% expected by economists.

Data from the country’s statistics office showed that the biggest price increases were in housing, followed by food and soft drinks, then transportation.

Inflation data, along with retail sales data released on Tuesday, will be key in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s April decision on whether to hike interest rates.

— Lim Hui Jie

Alibaba soared more than 11% during Tuesday’s midday trade after the e-commerce giant announced it would split its company into six divisions.

It’s the most significant restructuring in Alibaba’s history, with each of the six companies being led by their own CEO and board of directors.

According to a company statement, the move is intended to “unlock shareholder value and promote competitiveness in the market”.

Separately, following the announcement, Morgan Stanley called it a tactical research idea, saying that the “share price will increase in absolute terms over the next 60 days.”

— Arjun Kharpal, Sarah Min

Banks led the stock market lower on Tuesday afternoon after a hearing at which three regulators said they would prefer tighter rules for smaller institutions.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael Barr, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Nellie Liang, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for domestic finance, each said they would impose stricter requirements on banks with assets of more than $100 billion support.

The comments came during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the recent collapse of three regional banks. Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked both if they would support stricter rules for banks that were not classified as systemically important and if they would support rolling back the deregulating changes made in 2018.

“I think it’s certainly appropriate that we go back and review these measures in light of the recent episode and consider what changes should be made,” Grünberg said.

SPDR Regional Banking and SPDR Bank ETFs were each down more than 1% in afternoon trade.

– Jeff Cox

Equity markets have been on an uptrend in the first quarter of 2023, with the S&P 500 and MSCI World Index on track to gain more than 4% combined.

This is particularly notable after a year of negative returns.

Here, CNBC Pro subscribers can read how markets have performed under similar conditions in the past.

— Ganesh Rao

All three regulators testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday said rules for regional banks needed tightening.

“I believe there is a need to strengthen capital and liquidity standards for companies over $100 billion,” Michael Barr, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, responded to questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. ).

Barr’s counterparts echoed his views as they discussed the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank.

Noting that he voted against deregulation moves in 2018, FDIC Chairman Martin Grünberg said, “My views haven’t changed.”

Nellie Liang, undersecretary for domestic finance, said she agrees “that we need to prevent these kinds of bank failures.”

Bank stocks were slightly higher after the swap.

– Jeff Cox

Markets have been hit with volatility over the past month, leading some retail investors to wonder where to park their money.

If you had to invest $10,000 amid the uncertainty, where should you put it and how much should you allocate to each asset class? CNBC Pro speaks to portfolio managers and investors to find out.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Wheat Tan

According to an index published by the Conference Board on Tuesday, consumer prospects brightened somewhat in March despite the banking crisis.

The board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose to 104.2 from 103.4 in February, beating the Dow Jones estimate of 100.7.

In addition, the expectation index, which measures near-term prospects, rose to 73 from 70.4. However, the index remains below the 80 level consistent with recessions. The inflation index also remained elevated at 6.3% for the next 12 months.

– Jeff Cox