2 Hours Ago
Australian retail sales tick higher in April, but miss expectations
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said retail turnover rose 0.1% month-on-month in April, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The reading was below Reuters poll estimate of a 0.2% rise. Retail sales in April rose 1.3% from a year earlier.
“Underlying retail spending continues to be weak with a small rise in turnover in April not enough to make up for a fall in March,” said Ben Dorber, head of retail statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“Since the start of 2024, trend retail turnover has been flat as cautious consumers reduce their discretionary spending,” Dorber added.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
2 Hours Ago
K-pop agency behind BTS reportedly pushing to sell part of its stake in rival SM Entertainment
South Korea’s largest K-pop entertainment agency Hybe is reportedly pushing to sell part of the 12.45% stake it holds in its rival SM Entertainment.
According to South Korean media outlet Chosun Ilbo, Hybe intends to make the transaction a block deal of 750,000 shares.
Shares of Hybe, the agency which manages popular boy band BTS, fell 2.26% while SM Entertainment shares were 4.8% lower on Tuesday.
Chosun Ilbo said Hybe decided on the sale because “it was a minority stake that had no influence on SM’s management rights, it would be better to sell it in large quantities and realize profits.”
According to the news outlet, the shares will be sold at a 4% to 5.5% discount to SM’s last closing price of 95,800 South Korean won, which puts the total transaction value at about $50 million.
SM Entertainment did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
— Lim Hui Jie
3 Hours Ago
Japan services producer price index rises at fastest rate since March 2015
Japan’s services producer price index rose 2.8% year on year in April, marking its fastest rise in nine years and providing another indicator of sustained inflation to the Bank of Japan.
The PPI was higher than the revised 2.4% in March, climbing for a second straight month.
The services PPI measures the average change in prices received by domestic producers.
— Lim Hui Jie
4 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: Super Micro Computer shares were choppy after Nvidia earnings. Here’s where analysts see it going
4 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: Nvidia and more: Citi names its global stock picks to play the semiconductor boom
The global semiconductor industry is set to experience “groundbreaking changes,” Citi said, naming stocks to play the theme.”
“We believe semiconductor architecture will evolve towards the direction of memory and logic integration for AI computing,” the investment bank’s analysts noted.
Aside from Nvidia, Citi named five stocks to play the theme, and analysts give two of them at least 30% upside potential.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner