South Korea GDP, Malaysia CPI, BOJ MPM meeting

The Japanese yen slid past the 155 mark against the U.S. dollar, touching a fresh 34-year low.

The currency last traded at 155.37 against a strengthening greenback.

Japanese authorities have acknowledged the yen’s weakness for almost a month but investors are awaiting clearer steps to stem the currency’s fall.

The Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision on Friday will be closely monitored for any action against yen weakness as well as forecasts on inflation.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

South Korea posted GDP growth of 3.4% in the first quarter, beating the 2.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters and marking its highest quarterly growth since the fourth quarter of 2021.

On a quarter on quarter basis, GDP rose 1.3%, also beating Reuters expectations of 0.6%.

Exports from South Korea in the first quarter rose by 0.9%, as exports of IT items, such as cellular phones, increased. Imports contracted by 0.7%, owing to decreased imports of electronic equipment.

— Lim Hui Jie

Bitcoin is set for more price gains later this year, even after a recent retreat in prices, according to Standard Chartered’s top crypto analyst.

Geoffrey Kendrick, head of foreign exchange research, West, and digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said in a research note this week that he sees bitcoin rising to $150,000 per coin, and ether hitting $8,000 by the end of 2024 — doubling down on a bullish prediction from the bank earlier this year. 

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— Ryan Browne

Attractive returns and the breadth of opportunities are among the many reasons why investors have historically preferred to invest in the U.S. over Europe.

One strategist, however is looking keenly at European equities, and notes that “Europe isn’t a boring market.”

There’s a huge element of growth, [and investors] just have to dig a little bit deeper than in the U.S. where it’s extremely easy to find the growth names at the moment,” Michael Field, Morningstar’s Europe Market Strategist said.

“Europe is structuring. If you look at the macroeconomic environment at the moment, there could potentially be a greater tailwind for European equities than those in the U.S.” he added, naming stocks he likes right now.

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— Amala Balakrishner

Canaccord Genuity chief market strategist Tony Dwyer told CNBC on Wednesday that he is still optimistic about the stock market in 2024 despite the recent swoon.

“Our game plan coming in to this year was to have some corrective action, based upon just a historic run we’ve had, and we’re in the process in that. And I think once you work your way through that, it’s going to set up for a really good ending to the year,” Dwyer said on “Squawk on the Street.”

Dwyer said broader earnings growth should help stocks, as well as the potential for multiple rate cuts this year. The market is currently becoming too pessimistic about rate cuts, he said.

“Just like 7 rate cuts at the end of December was excessive, only one rate cut may be as well,” Dwyer said.

— Jesse Pound

Three stocks are combining to hold back the Dow Jones Industrial Average by a total of 60 points on Wednesday.

Home Depot is taking 26 points off the average, McDonald’s is lowering it by 19 points and Johnson & Johnson by about 15 points.

Unlike the capitalization-weighted S&P 500, where larger…