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Asia Markets Close Mostly Lower as U.S. Jobs Report Show Room for More Hikes; Adani Saga Continues

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

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific mostly fell on Monday as a stronger-than-expected jobs report from the U.S. worrying investors the Federal Reserve has room for more interest rate hikes, as it continued its efforts to control inflation.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.22% in its final hour of trade as property and technology stocks led losses. The Shenzhen Component shed 1.18% to 11,912.56 and the Shanghai Composite also lost 0.76% to 3,238.7.

In South Korea, the Kospi in South Korea fell 1.7% to 2,438.19 and the Kosdaq lost 0.71% to 761.33. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.25% to 7,539.00. Japan's Nikkei 225 bucked the trend and gained 0.67% to 2,7693.65 and the Topix rose 0.45% to 1,979.22.

The Nifty 50 in India shed 0.62% and the S&P Sensex fell 0.67% as stocks of Adani Group mostly fell as allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud raised by Hindenburg raises concerns of spillover effects on wider Indian markets and Wall Street lenders.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed founder and chairman Gautam Adani's net worth further on Friday, as his net worth fell by more than 51.1%, or $61.6 billion, year-to-date.

Stocks on Wall Street fell on Friday, after the jobs report, and the 10-year Treasury yield topped 3.5% after jumping more than 12 basis points following the report.

Apple shares jumped 2.4% as the company reported a drop in sales in largest quarterly revenue decline since 2016, Google-parent Alphabet fell 2.8% following disappointing results. Amazon's stock also declined 8.4% in its worst day since April after its earnings report.

— CNBC's Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Jeff Cox contributed to this report

Adani group companies continue to mostly fall

Shares of most Adani Group companies fell further on Monday, continuing to drop as a feud between the conglomerate and short-seller firm Hindenburg deepened.

Adani Enterprises lost 4%, and Adani Transmission fell 10% in Mumbai's morning session.

Adani Green Energy, Adani Power and Adani Total Gas fell 5% each. Adani Port and Special Economic Zone bucked the trend and traded 2% higher, but they remained volatile.

— Jihye Lee

Bank of Japan approaches deputy governor to lead central bank: Nikkei

Bank of Japan has approached its deputy governor Masayoshi Amamiya to potentially succeed Haruhiko Kuroda in leading the central bank, Nikkei reported, citing people familiar.

Nikkei reported that the Japanese government and ruling party officials have discussed the matter with the current deputy governor.

Japan's government will present to the parliament its central bank nominees to take the leadership role as Kuroda's term ends on April 8, the report added.

— Jihye Lee

Australia retail sales fell 0.2% in final quarter of 2022

Australia's retail trade volume fell by 0.2% in the final quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The decline is less than the 0.6% drop expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Retail trade volumes fell by 3.9% on a monthly basis, and rose 7.5% compared to the same period a year ago.

— Jihye Lee

Week Ahead: Reserve Bank of Australia; Japan current account and China inflation

Here are some major economic data investors will be watching out of the Asia-Pacific this week.

Australia's retail trade readings for the final quarter of 2022 will be released later today. Thailand's inflation data and Indonesia's gross domestic product will also be published.

On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia announces its benchmark cash rate decision. Economists polled by Reuters are expecting the central bank to hike by 25 basis points in February.

Japan's current account balance for December will be released on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Taiwan will release its inflation print for January.

China's consumer price index and producer price index for January will be published on Friday.

— Jihye Lee

Adani stocks lost more than 30% in the past two weeks

Stocks of Adani Group companies fell significantly in the past two weeks, with Adani Enterprises closing last Friday 53.9% lower from its prices before Hindenburg released its short seller report.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone fell by 34.47% in the same period, Adani Green Energy lost 51.17%, and Adani Power shed 30.11%. Adani Transmission also lost 49.46% in the past two weeks.

— Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Time to buy the tech rally? Wall Street pros weigh in with their top stock picks

Investors look increasingly bullish on tech and are flocking back to the sector in droves.

But is the worst of the tech slump over? Market pros weigh in and reveal their top picks to play the sector.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Zavier Ong

CNBC Pro: Bearish hedge fund manager Dan Niles names his 'favorite investment' for 2023

Despite the January bounce, volatility could yet remain in the year ahead, according to hedge fund manager Dan Niles.

Amid the volatility, Niles named his favorite investment for this year.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Stocks close lower Friday

Stocks closed lower Friday, but ended a winning week.

The S&P 500 declined 1.04% to 4,136.48. The Nasdaq Composite shed roughly 1.59% to 12,006.95. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 127.93 points, or 0.38%, to 33,926.01.

— Sarah Min

January jobs report blows past expectations

The U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said Friday. That number easily topped a Dow Jones consensus forecast of 187,000.

— Jeff Cox

Strong jobs report pressures Fed to follow through with interest rate hikes

The Federal Reserve is even more likely to raise interest rates to its forecast 5.25% for the top end of its fed funds target rate range, after January's employment report showed a boom in new jobs.

There were 517,000 jobs added in January, well above the Dow Jones consensus of 187,000.

"For the Fed, it means they've got to be worried about a reacceleration in inflation. Even though wages are decelerating in this measure, aggregate demand is too strong. These are paychecks. Some of them multiple," said Diane Swonk, KPMG chief economist. "We still have a lot more data before we get to March. For now, it's a quarter point [hike]. They are not going to move off 5.25%. I can tell you that right now."

In the futures market, traders were betting on an end rate, or terminal rate near 5%. According to rate strategist Ben Jeffery at BMO, the fed funds futures showed a high 4.97% by June, up from 4.89% Thursday.

The market is pricing in a 25 basis point hike for March. A basis point equals 0.01 of a percentage point.

But Jeffery said the futures market is now pricing in more of a chance for a quarter point hike in May as well. "There was always a solid probability for 25 basis points in May to be the last hike, and this has increased the probability of that," he said.

Patti Domm

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