Asia stock markets today: Live updates

South Korean defense stocks were higher by midday trading on Monday, outperforming the broader Kospi.

Shares of defense companies were broadly higher. Korea Aerospace Industries’ stock was up 1.05%, Hyundai Rotem up 0.95%, Victek up 1.23%, Firstec up 1.23%, Speco up 0.60% and LIG Nex1 up over 5%. But shares of Hanhwa Aerospace were near flat, hovering below the flatline.

The Kospi gained about 0.3% higher by midday trading after opening near the flat line.

North Korea reportedly fired what appeared to be a long-range ballistic missile on Monday, its second missile launch in less than 12 hours, according to South Korea’s military. It comes as Pyongyang condemned a U.S.-led show of force against the nuclear armed state.

From 2018 to 2022, South Korea was the ninth largest weapons supplier globally, ahead of Israel, the Netherlands and Turkey, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

New Zealand’s services sector recorded an expansion in November, according to a survey.

The Bank of New Zealand-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) was at 51.2 in November, up 2 points from October, but below the survey’s long-term average of 53.5.

A PSI reading above 50 indicates that the service sector is expanding and below 50 that it is declining.

BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said that “despite November’s lift, the PSI remains below its long-term norm of 53.5. And the combination of contracting activity/sales and rising inventories raises questions about the sustainability of the nudge higher.”

The New Zealand dollar was 0.35% higher against the dollar, while stocks in the region were largely flat.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Shares of artificial intelligence company SenseTime plunged as much as 14.2% after the company announced the death of its founder, Tang Xiao’ou, on Sunday.

In a filing to the Hong Kong Exchange, SenseTime said that Tang died due to “health issues” on Dec. 15.

In a separate announcement, SenseTime said that the business operations of the company will continue to be led by executive chairman and CEO Xu Li, and Tang’s death is not expected to have a material impact on the business of SenseTime.

Jefferies is “poised to pounce” on several global stocks as it looks ahead to the new year, giving three stocks more than 60% upside potential.

Those stocks, which are among its “top picks for 2024,” include companies with strong cash flows and attractive risk-reward ratios, the investment bank’s analysts wrote in a Dec. 7 equity research note.

Jefferies is bullish on three stocks — giving three over 60% upside.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

As financial markets continue rallying, UBS has named the “most crowded short” across all sectors and global markets.

Crowded trades refer to a situation in which a large number of investors hold similar views and concentrated positions on certain stocks or markets.

Nearly one in five shares of the most shorted European stock tracked by UBS were used to bet on a price decline.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the central bank isn’t “really talking about rate cuts right now.” Instead, “We’re very focused on the question in front of us, which as chair Powell said… is, have we gotten monetary policy to sufficiently restrictive stance in order to ensure the inflation comes back down to 2%? That’s the question in front of us.”

Traders are betting that the central bank will cut rates more than three times, according to fed funds futures trading at the CME. Futures markets indicate that the Fed could start cutting rates as soon as March.

“I just think it’s just premature to be even thinking about that,” Williams said, when asked about futures pricing for a rate cut in March. Williams said that if the trend of lower inflation were to reverse, the central bank stands ready to tighten policy again.

— Yun Li, Scott Schnipper

Oil prices settled lower on Friday, but rose slightly for the week on a weaker dollar and improved 2024 demand outlook after a string of recent losses.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell 15 cents, or .21%, to settle at $71.43 a barrel. The Brent contract for February shed 6 cents, or .08%, to settle at $76.55

Yet U.S. crude and the global benchmark gained less than 1% for the week after prices rallied Thursday on a weaker dollar and the International Energy Agency raising its 2024 demand growth outlook.

It was the first positive note for crude prices after seven weeks of losses.

— Spencer Kimball

Friday could be a volatile trading session for stocks thanks to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 rebalancing their indexes. The process will see Uber join the S&P 500, while DoorDash and MongoDB will be added to the Nasdaq-100.

A looming concern that could be reflected in the process is investors considering concentration risks, as well as worry that some stocks may have an oversized weighting going into their respective indexes.

— Brian Evans

Boeing is on pace for its longest weekly positive streak in 18 years.

With just hours left in Friday’s session, the airplane maker is poised to finish the trading week more than 8% higher. If that holds, it would mark its seventh winning week in a row — a first of that length since late 2005.

Boeing, which is up more than 3% on Friday, is also slated to notch its eighth straight winning day. The stock last saw a streak that long during a nine-day rally in October 2022.

The company shared leadership appointments over the course of the week. Stephanie Pope was tapped as operations chief, while Brian Moran will lead sustainability.

— Alex Harring, Nick Wells