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Australia shares hit record high; Japan stocks end lower, while yen languishes near 34-year lows

Shreyashi Sanyal

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

A person walks past an electronic boards displaying stock prices of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in Tokyo on March 4, 2024. 
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images

Japan stocks fell the most among Asian markets Thursday, while Australian stocks hit a record high, helped by a boost from mining shares. The Japanese yen remained near 34-year lows.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.46% to 40,168.07, while the broader Topix shed 1.73% to close at 2,750.81.

The Japanese yen was trading at 151.41 against the dollar a day after hitting 151.97 — its weakest level against the greenback in 34 years.

The multi-decade lows of the yen fueled market speculation of a potential government intervention to support the currency. Japan's finance minister Shunichi Suzuki indicated earlier in the week that measures to "respond to disorderly FX moves" will not be ruled out.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.99% higher at 7,896.90 after hitting an intraday record high of 7,901.20. The index was higher for a second straight day. Heavyweight miners rose including Rio Tinto up 0.7% and BHP Group up 1.4%.

China's CSI 300 rose about 0.52% at 3,520.96. It was reported that China's central bank may restart treasury bond buying, a monetary policy tool it has not used in more than two decades.

South Korea's Kospi ended 0.3% lower at 2,745.82. The smaller cap Kosdaq dipped 0.13% to 910.05.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1%, with the Hang Seng tech index up 2.5%.


The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index closed at a record higher Wednesday and headed for its best first quarter since 2019. The index gained 0.86% to close at 5,248.49, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.22%.

Both the S&P 500 and the Dow ended three-day losing streaks. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.51%.

— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

Hong Kong tech index jumps as Bilibili leads gains with 8% surge

The Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 2.6% as tech stocks rose, including Bilibili, which surged 8.3%.

The tech index outperformed the broader Hang Seng Index, which rose about 0.6%.

Bilibili reported full-year revenue of 22.53 billion yuan, or $3.11 billion, in 2023 and said it was "confident" of revenue growth in 2024.

Other stocks in the sector rose, including Baidu, which was up 3.7%, while Tencent gained about 1%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Strategist says Japan 'very, very close' to yen intervention

Japan is 'very, very close' to intervening in the yen, strategist says
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Japan is 'very, very close' to intervening in the yen, strategist says
Squawk Box Asia

Japan is "very, very close" to intervening in the yen, according to Steven Englander, head of Global G10 FX research and North America macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank.          

"I think we're actually very, very close to them [Japanese authorities] jumping in … they've already discussed the political consequences and nobody's sitting there asking for a weaker yen," Englander told CNBC.

He said the intervention would be aimed at buying time for Japanese authorities until the U.S. Federal Reserve starts cutting interest rates or for the Bank of Japan to hike its rates a little more.    

The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% on Thursday, trading at around 151.47 against the dollar after falling to its weakest level in 34 years at 151.97 in the previous session. It prompted market speculation the government could potentially intervene to support the currency.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Australia retail sales rise 0.3% in February

Australian retail sales rose 0.3% month-on-month in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The reading fell short of expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.4% rise. In January, Australian retail sales were up 1.1%.

Retail sales for February were at 35.87 billion Australian dollars ($23.41 billion), up 1.6% year-over-year.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index hit a record high during the session, last up about 1%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

CNBC Pro: Is it time for investors to hedge for a market decline? The pros share their views and strategies

Are markets rising too much, too fast?

After hitting a record high earlier this month, the S&P 500 again notched a new closing high — along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite.

Last week, Goldman Sachs told clients they should start hedging for a market decline.

Find out what other pros say, and what hedging strategies to use.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

CNBC Pro: Now that Nvidia's launched powerful AI chips, Goldman expects these 3 stocks to get a boost

In the wake of Nvidia's launch of powerful new artificial intelligence chips, Goldman Sachs is predicting major growth for memory chips used in AI systems.

The investment bank expects the total addressable market for HBM to expand tenfold to $23 billion by 2026, up from just $2.3 billion in 2022.

The Wall Street bank sees three major memory makers as prime beneficiaries of the booming HBM market. Investors can buy three stocks through concentrated exchange-traded funds or diversified funds.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Stocks close higher

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both closed higher Wednesday, snapping a three-session losing streak.

The broader market index rose 0.86% to settle at 5,248.49. The 30-stock Dow gained 1.22%, or 477.75 points, and finished at 39,760.08. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the trailing index, coming in with a rise of 0.51% to close at 16,399.52.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Apple underperforming S&P 500 by widest margin since October 2013, according to Bespoke

Waning China sales and a lack of a clear artificial intelligence story have dragged shares of Apple down so far this year.

The "Magnificent Seven" darling, which soared an eye-watering 48% last year, has retreated 12% in 2024. The 200-day performance spread of Apple versus the S&P 500 has not looked this wide since October 2013, according to a tweet from Bespoke Investment Group.

Bespoke noted that the market can rally without Apple, but it is rare. The S&P 500's median change was a loss of 9.3% during periods when Apple declined over a 200-day trading window.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Oil prices slip on U.S. crude stockpile increase

Crude oil futures fell for a second day Wednesday as U.S. crude stockpiles rose.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery fell 27 cents, or 0.33%, to settle at $81.35 a barrel Wednesday. The Brent contract for May delivery dropped 16 cents, or 0.19%, to $86.09 a barrel.

U.S. commercial crude stockpiles, which exclude the strategic petroleum reserve, rose by 3.2 million barrels for the week ending March 22, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels.

— Spencer Kimball