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Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains in Asia, powered mainly by gains in commercial services and utilities’ stocks.

The index climbed 1.9% on Wednesday, with global printing company Toppan Holdings, the biggest gainer, up 10.67%.

Electric utility Tokyo Electric Power Company, chip equipment supplier Lasertec and conglomerate Sony Group were among the other big advancers.

Business sentiment at large Japanese firms improved in December, according to the monthly Reuters Tankan survey.

Reuters reported that “sentiment improved for a second straight month as auto sector continued to recover from last year’s semiconductor shortage and supply chain woes.”

The sentiment index for manufacturers stood at +12, compared to +6 in November. Separately, the poll also showed the service sector index at +26, down from +27 in November.

A positive figure indicates optimists outnumber pessimists in the sector, and vice versa.

The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey is due next on Dec. 13.

— Lim Hui Jie

Goldman Sachs has unveiled its “conviction list” of its top stock picks in Europe for December — with one stock in particular standing out for its significant upside potential.

The Wall Street bank’s analysts see a 130% upside potential for the stock over the next 12 months as the company makes massive infrastructure investments that will improve its sustainable free cash flow.

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are also bullish on the same stock.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

JPMorgan strategists are making a bold call for European stock market performance next year after calling it right in 2023.

The forecast comes from the same team of strategists who accurately predicted the MSCI Eurozone’s performance this year. They expected the index to rise 9.1% to close at 256 points by the end of December 2023 on a local currency basis. The index is currently at 266 points.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about their 2024 outlook here.

— Ganesh Rao

A gain in shares of Apple helped pare losses for the Dow in Tuesday’s session, underscoring the climb in technology names.

The blue-chip average slipped about 0.2%, dragged on by slides of more than 2% in Goldman Sachs and 3% in Procter & Gamble. But a jump of nearly 2% in Apple — the best performer in the Dow — helped mitigate losses for the 30-stock index.

The move comes as technology as a whole has outperformed on Tuesday. In fact, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is the sole major index poised for gains, as of 3:30 p.m. ET.

In a similar vein, information technology and communication services — which are both known for their exposure to tech — were two of just three sectors of the 11 in the S&P 500 on track to end the session higher. (Consumer discretionary was the other sector slated to close positively.)

Beyond Apple, the Dow was buoyed by advances of more than 1% in Verizon and Merck.

— Alex Harring

Oil prices fell again on Tuesday despite efforts by OPEC+ to convince traders that the production cuts agreed last week will come through.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell 72 cents, or .99%, to settle at $72.32 a barrel, while the Brent crude contract for February fell 83 cents, or 1.06%, to settle at $77.20 a barrel.

Traders have been skeptical that the OPEC+ will deliver on promised supply cuts.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said OPEC+ was prepared to deepen supply cuts in the first quarter of 2024 if necessary, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Saudi Energy Minister Price Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg Monday that the group would deliver on the 2.2 million bpd of promised cuts and could extend them beyond the first quarter if necessary.

— Spencer Kimball

Nio climbed more than 4% as investors cheered narrowing losses for the electric vehicle maker during the third quarter.

The Chinese company posted a loss of 2.67 yuan per share, smaller than the 2.91-yuan drop expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. It also marked a decrease from the second-quarter loss of 3.7 yuan per share.

That overshadowed revenue, which came in below analysts’ consensus forecast in the third quarter. Guidance on the key financial measure was also soft.

— Alex Harring, Arjun Kharpal

October job openings slid to the lowest level since 2021, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed 8.7 million roles in October, below economists’ consensus forecast of 9.4 million, according to Dow Jones. It also marked the fewest openings since March 2021.

That data is welcome news for investors hoping for evidence that prior interest rate hikes have had the Federal Reserve’s intended impact on the economy. Stocks took a leg up following the data, but the Dow still remained more than 100 points down.

— Alex Harring, Jeff Cox