Aurelia Butler

(Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever.An interest rate decision in Thailand and Australian inflation top a light Asian calendar on Wednesday, with broader risk appetite likely to be tempered by a further rebound in U.S. bond yields.The two-year Treasury yield rose only a few basis points, but the fact that it increased at all following the previous day’s 21 bps surge is notable, and rate-sensitive tech stocks dragged Wall Street into the red.It is very early days, but there is a growing sense of optimism that the banking shock is abating. Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chairman for supervision, and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg told lawmakers on Wednesday that depositor funds in U.S. banks are safe and sound.But this relief is running up what looks like a renewed spike higher in bond yields and borrowing costs, which is dampening risk appetite.One curiosity is the dollar, weakening again on Tuesday despite the rise in U.S. bond yields. Indeed it mostly struggled to catch a safe-haven bid when the banking stresses were most acute and is now struggling even when U.S. yields are rising. Dollar index, https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zgpobaejnvd/USDINDEX.png Asia’s equity spotlight on Wednesday will shine on China’s Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group after the conglomerate founded by Jack Ma said on Tuesday it plans to split its business into six main units covering e-commerce, media and the cloud.The news – a surprising and major revamp as China looks to ease regulatory crackdowns and support private enterprises – sent U.S.-listed shares up 14% on Tuesday, recovering some of the nearly 70% lost since curbs were imposed in late 2020.On the Asian policy front on Wednesday, the Bank of Thailand is set to implement its fifth consecutive quarter-point rate hike in an attempt to get inflation back within target.Eighteen of 22 economists polled by Reuters expect the BOT to raise its benchmark one-day repurchase rate to 1.75%.Inflation has fallen to a 13-month low of 3.79%, but that is still above the BOT’s target range of 1% to 3% and policymakers have signaled that the tightening cycle is not yet over.Australian inflation figures for February and a raft of data from Vietnam – Q1 GDP and March inflation, trade and industrial production – will also be released.Here are three key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Wednesday:- Thailand interest rate decision (expects +25 bps)- Australia inflation (February)- U.S. pending home sales (February) (By Jamie McGeever; Editing by Josie Kao) More

According to Hikvision’s 2021 half-year report, at least four of the companies facing new curbs belong to the Chinese surveillance camera maker including Luopu Haishi Dingxin Electronic Technology Co, Moyu Haishi Electronic Technology Co, Pishan Haishi Yong’an Electronic Technology Co and Urumqi Haishi Xin’an Electronic Technology Co. Yutian Haishi Meitian Electronic Technology Co Ltd was also added. Hikvision did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The companies “have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention and high-technology surveillance against the Uyghur people and members of other Muslim minority groups,” in Xinjiang, the Commerce Department said in a posting in the Federal Register.Being added to the entity list means U.S. suppliers must get a special and difficult-to-obtain license before shipping goods to the targeted companies. Washington has increasingly used the entity list to target Chinese firms. Hikvision was placed on the U.S. trade blacklist in 2019 for being implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. More

The consumer sentiment index rose to 92.0 in March from 90.2 in February, according to the Bank of Korea. It was the highest since June 2022 but still below the 100-mark of the long-term average of the last two decades. A sub-index that measures the outlook for living conditions rose 1.1 points, leading the headline index higher. That for the spending outlook, down 0.7 points, was the only sub-index which fell.”The rise of the living conditions index came as inflation slowed in recent months and the government announced plans to delay public cost increases,” said a central bank official during a briefing held prior to the data release. The median of consumers’ inflation expectations for the next 12 months fell to 3.9% from 4.0% in the previous month, the survey also showed. More

– Grocery rebateA one-time grocery rebate, providing C$2.5 billion ($1.84 billion) in targeted inflation relief for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families.- Dental care expansionProposal to introduce legislation for a new dental care plan for uninsured Canadians with family income less than C$90,000 annually.- Taxing wealthy CanadiansLegislative amendment proposals to raise Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) to 20.5% from 15%. Proposed reforms would also significantly increase the income level necessary to pay the AMT. – Crypto assetsCanada’s financial regulator will consult financial institutions on guidelines for publicly disclosing their exposure to crypto assets. Ottawa will also require federally regulated pension funds to disclose their crypto asset exposures to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.- Tax on share buybacksA proposed 2% tax on share buybacks by public corporations in Canada would apply as of Jan. 1, 2024. A business would not be subject to the tax in a year if its gross repurchases of equity were less than C$1 million. The tax is estimated to increase federal revenues by C$2.5 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24. – Taxation of dividends received by financial institutionsProposes to amend the Income Tax Act to treat dividendsreceived on Canadian shares held by financial institutions in the ordinary course of their business as business income. This measure would apply to dividends received after 2023, which would increase federal revenues by C$3.15 billion over five years starting in 2024-25, and by C$790 million ongoing. – Right to repairGovernment to work toward implementing a right to repair, aimed at making it easier and cheaper to repair home appliance and electronics.- Standard charging portGovernment to explore implementing a standard charging port in Canada for phones, tablets, cameras, laptops and other electronic devices.- Lower credit card feesGovernment has secured commitments from Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard to lower fees for small businesses, while also protecting reward points for consumers offered by Canada’s large banks.- Clean Electricity Investment Tax CreditProposal to introduce a 15% refundable tax credit for eligible investments in non-emitting electricity generation systems, abated natural gas electricity-fired electricity generation, stationary electricity storage systems and equipment for transmitting electricity between provinces and territories.- Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax CreditProposal for a refundable tax credit equal to 30% of the cost of investments in machinery and equipment used to manufacture or process key clean technologies, and extract, process or recycle certain critical minerals essential to clean technology supply chains.($1 = 1.3599 Canadian dollars) More