Inflation in Japan, retail sales in Australia

South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics said it expects to record a 35% decline in operating profits in the fourth quarter of 2023, missing expectations by a large margin.

Samsung said that in the October-December quarter, operating profit is likely to be 2.8 trillion South Korean won ($2.13 billion), down 35% from the same period a year earlier when the company reported operating profit of 4.31 trillion won. Operating profit reached 2.43 trillion won in the previous quarter.

Earnings forecasts were well below LSEG’s SmartEstimate of 3.7 trillion won, which is weighted more toward forecasts by analysts who have been consistently more accurate.

The company said in the statement that fourth-quarter revenue will likely decline by 4.9% compared to the same period last year to 67 trillion won.

– Sheila Chiang

Nvidia has been a favorite among investors when it comes to artificial intelligence.

But other technology companies have also been busy building their capabilities in the region, and one of them is not appreciated by the market, according to one strategist.

“But if you run into the downside, if you see more weakness than we had in the first half of the year, continue to build a position because this is a high-quality name that has a strong balance sheet,” he said.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

-Weezin Tan

Internet stocks in Europe are expected to post gains in 2024 – thanks to improving fundamentals and lower interest rates, according to Morgan Stanley.

Wall Street bank analysts said they were “positive on the sector” due to customer growth, cost discipline at companies, and valuations supported by low interest rates.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the investment bank’s stock picks here.

-Ganesh Rao

US crude oil fell more than 4% on Monday after Saudi Arabia cut prices for its main crude product, renewing fears of weak global demand.

The February West Texas Intermediate futures contract lost $3.04, or 4.12%, to settle at $70.77. Brent crude futures for March fell $2.64, or 3.35%, to reach $76.12 upon settlement.

The sales came after Saudi Aramco reduced the prices of Arab Light crude oil for Asian customers by $2 per barrel.

The Saudis are trying to defend their market share in the face of record U.S. production and cheap barrels from Iran and Russia, said Bob Yawger, energy futures strategist at Mizuho.

“They’re clearly hitting the panic button a little bit,” Yawger told CNBC.

“We are getting closer and closer to the 2020 situation here where they are trying to regain market share by cutting everything to the bare minimum and sparking a price war,” he said.

-Spencer Kimball

Consumer inflation expectations continued to decline in December, with one-year expectations reaching their lowest levels since January 2021, according to a New York Federal Reserve survey on Monday.

The central bank’s survey of consumer expectations saw expectations over one year’s horizon fall to 3%, down from 3.4% a month ago. The three-year outlook fell to 2.6% from 3%, while the five-year horizon fell to 2.5%, down 0.2 percentage points from November.

Expectations for food and rent costs fell, while expectations for gasoline remained unchanged at 4.5%. Household spending expectations fell to 5%, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.

—Jeff Cox

Nvidia stock rose more than 4% to trade near an all-time high after unveiling three new AI chips aimed at powering AI from home. Stocks were also headed for their best day since August.

The new GPUs, known as the RTX 4060 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and RTX 4080 Super, will be priced between $599 and $999. Although graphics cards are primarily designed for gaming, they can also run and run AI applications on PCs and laptops.

These chips will also comply with export controls imposed on China.

-Samantha Sobin, How to Lesswing

Cryptocurrency-related stocks rose on Monday afternoon as the price of Bitcoin rose to its highest level since April 2022.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rose 3%, while shares of Block and Robinhood, which also offer bitcoin trading services, rose 3% and 5%, respectively. Mining stocks enjoyed greater gains. Marathon Digital and Riot advanced 8% each. CleanSpark and Iris Energy each added 6%.

Bitcoin on Monday rose more than 6% to above $47,000, as BlackRock, Grayscale and other potential issuers of Bitcoin ETFs provided final updates to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including a key fee disclosure that boosted investor confidence that approval is more Possibility or not.

– Tanya Machel