South Korea stocks dip 2%, leading region’s losses ahead of China trade data, RBA rate

South Korea’s Kospi lost 2%, dragged by energy and industrial stocks.

The fall marks an easing off from Monday’s gains when the index posted its best session since late March 2020 after the country re-imposed a ban on short selling.

The Kukdong Oil and Chemicals Co. shed 6.38%, while Korea Petroleum Industries’ shares slipped 5.95%. Daesung Energy fell 2.15%.

Shares of manufacturing companies are also in the red. Taeyang Metal Industrial shed 4%, and Aekyung Industrial dipped 3.45%.

Other index heavyweights like LGES fell over 7%. Naver was down 2.68%.

—Lee Ying Shan

Australia’s central bank is expected to raise its cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35% at the November policy meeting, ANZ forecasts.

“We expect the RBA to increase the cash rate by 25bp this afternoon following recent hawkish rhetoric and the stronger than expected Q3 inflation print,” ANZ wrote in a daily note. The central bank held borrowing costs steady in its past four meetings.

The bank’s economists added they do not expect any easing until the fourth quarter of 2024, with risks skewed towards further tightening in the near term.

Australia’s inflation in September ticked up 5.4% year-on-year, according to official data.

—Lee Ying Shan

Altcoins rose on Monday after ether hit $1,900 over the weekend for the first time since July.

Litecoin added 3.4% while Ripple’s XRP rose 9.1%. In the decentralized finance sector, the tokens tied to Polygon and Cardano advanced 4% and 6%, respectively. Uniswap added 6% as well.

Bitcoin and ether were flat after their prices spiked over the weekend, with bitcoin again touching the $35,000 level while ether reached $1,900 for the first time since July – when the two were holding onto gains from the initial bitcoin ETF-fueled rally this year.

“Alts are playing catch up to bitcoin today,” Ryan Rasmussen, analyst at Bitwise Asset Management, told CNBC. “Historically we’ve seen bitcoin rally, then ether, then alts – and that pattern seems to be repeating as this bull market heats up.”

Graeme Moore, head of tokenization at Polymesh Network, added that traders are “front-running the next bull market as they’ve done in previous cycles where small, illiquid altcoins rise sharply. Due to this renewed confidence and interest, traders are also seeing opportunities that they weren’t seeing before.”

— Tanaya Macheel

The Bank of Japan’s recent decision to increase flexibility on its yield curve control is good news for its banking sector — and some stocks are set to benefit, according to Goldman Sachs.

Analyst Makoto Kuroda wrote in notes to CNBC that Japanese banks “remain in focus as a beneficiary” of BOJ’s interest rate normalization.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about Goldman’s top picks in the sector here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Oil rose slightly on Monday after Saudi Arabia and Russia confirmed they would continue to cut production to cushion prices amid concerns over a softening economy and weaker demand.

Brent rose about $1.28, or 1.51%, to $86.17 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate increased $1.39, or 1.73%, to $81.90.

The Saudis said Sunday that they will continue to slash 1 million barrels per day until the end of the year. The kingdom’s daily production will stand at about 9 million barrels.

The Russians said they would continue to slash crude and petroleum product exports by 300,000 barrels per day. Moscow and Riyadh will review whether to deepen the cuts or increase production next month.

The market is also bracing for the U.S. to potentially ratchet up sanctions Iran. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation Friday to harden sanctions on Iranian oil exports in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

Oil prices so far have not responded dramatically to the war in Gaza as the U.S. undertakes intense diplomacy in the region to keep the conflict from spreading.

— Spencer Kimball

Don’t expect more Federal Reserve rate hikes from here, according to BCA Research.

“Although the interest-rate outlook is uncertain, we stand by our expectation that the Fed is finished hiking,” wrote Doug Peta, the firm’s chief U.S. investment strategist. “We think a recession is nearly inevitable, however, and our best guess is that it will begin in the first half of next year, so we are preparing to turn defensive.”

“We are already underweight equities and overweight fixed income over a twelve-month timeframe and look forward to aligning our tactical and cyclical recommendations before too long,” Peta said.

— Fred Imbert