Asian markets inch higher ahead of key China data, Japan service inflation heats up

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

Asia-Pacific markets started the week on a slightly positive note with investors awaiting key economic data from major economies including China, while Japan’s service inflation surged to a 45-month high.

Data showed Japan’s service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month’s reading of 2%.

China will release its official factory activity figures for November on Thursday, while the Caixin survey for the same metric will be out on Friday.

Australia will release its October inflation figures on Wednesday, which will offer clues to its central bank’s policy moves.

India’s gross domestic product numbers for the three months ended September will be released late Thursday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.07%, on pace for a third straight day of gains.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.34%, minutes after the open. The index is close to breaching its 33-year high of 33,753.33, hit on July 3.

The Topix added 0.22%.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.16% at open, but the Kosdaq dipped 0.34%.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,670, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,559.42.

On Friday in the U.S., the three major indexes were mixed in a shortened trading session.

The 30-stock Dow rose 0.33% while the S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.06%. However, the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%.

Major retail shares rose slightly as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season. Walmart and Target rose 0.9% and 0.74%, respectively, while Amazon ticked higher by 0.02%.

— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.

Japan service inflation accelerates to 45-month high in October

Japan’s services inflation rate hit a 45-month high in October, coming in at 2.3% compared with last month’s revised rate of 2%.

The last time the services inflation rate hit this level was in January 2020, also recorded at 2.3%.

Last week, headline inflation in Japan rose to 3.3%, while core inflation — which strips out prices of fresh food — came in at 3%.

— Lim Hui Jie

CNBC Pro: Portfolio manager explains why he has the ‘most conviction’ in this China tech stock

Chinese tech players like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent have largely been viewed favorably been investors, even as the Asian powerhouse has been having slower growth.

One tech giant, however, stands out to portfolio manager Brian Arcese.

When asked why he likes JD.com over the other Chinese tech giants such as Pinduoduo, Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, the portfolio manager at Foord Asset Management responded, “We also own Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent,” adding, “I have the most conviction,” in this stock.

— Amala Balakrishner

Dow heads for first 4-week win streak since April, boosted by Boeing

The Dow is on track to post its longest weekly winning streak in about half of a year.

With just a few hours left in Friday’s shortened trading day, the blue-chip index is poised to finish the week up nearly 1%. If that holds, it would mark the first time the index has notched four straight winning weeks since a streak that ended in April.

A chunk of this week’s gains are tied to a rally of more than 6% in Boeing. Investors first cheered a Deutsche Bank upgrade to buy from hold on Monday. On Wednesday, the airplane maker receiving clearance to start flight testing for 737 MAX 10 certification.

Verizon and Travelers were the next best performers on the week, climbing around 3.4% and 3%, respectively. But Walgreens and Caterpillar restricted gains for the 30-stock index, with both down more than 2% this week.

— Alex Harring

CNBC Pro: Fund manager reveals the one energy stock to buy right now

Brian Arcese, portfolio manager at investment firm Foord Asset Management has named the one energy stock investors should own right now.

Arcese, who manages the absolute return Foord International Fund, singled out the oil and gas giant over its strong cash flows and balance sheet.

Analysts have also forecast a “stable” 11% distribution yield for the stock next year, which includes share buy-backs.

— Ganesh Rao

Shoppers snagged toys, jewelry and other gifts as Thanksgiving sales hit record $5.6 billion

Many national retailers kept their stores shuttered on Thursday, but that didn’t mean consumers weren’t shopping. In fact, Adobe Analytics reports online spending hit a record $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving, up 5.5% year over year. The firm, which tracks more than 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S., anticipates spending on Black Friday will reach $9.6 billion, which would be about 5.7% higher than the same day last year.

Adobe said toys has been selling well, with sales in the category up 182% year over year. Jewelry also has seen big demand (up 126%) and apparel (up 124%), it said.

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF was flat ahead of a shortened trading session on Friday.

The big question will be what happens after this five-day period known for its deals and promotions. Analysts expect consumers to be very focused on value, which means they will be hunting for bargains. Retailers are planning events as one strategy to reel in reluctant consumers.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

Bitcoin rises to new high for the year on Friday, hitting $38,000

Bitcoin touched $38,001.71 around 6:45 a.m. Eastern time, marking the first time since April 2022, according to Coin Metrics. It was last higher by about 1.5% at $37,863.25 and on pace to end the week higher by 4%.

Meanwhile, ether has moved back above the key psychological level of $2,000, last trading nearly 2% higher at $2,105.65. The second largest token by market cap is outperforming the crypto market this week, on pace to end up more than 8%.

Solana, the big outperformer on the year – up 480% compared to bitcoin’s 130% – trailed the major tokens this week. It’s heading for a gain of less than 1%.

— Tanaya Macheel

Bullishness at almost 4-month high among retail investors; bearishness at 4-month low

Individual investor bullishness about the outlook for stocks over the next six months climbed again for a third week, to 45.3% from 43.8%, according to the latest survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. That marked the highest level of optimism since August 2, or almost four months ago.

Bullishness stayed above the historical average of 37.5% for a third consecutive week.

Conversely, retail investor bearishness dropped to 23.6% in the latest week, down from 28.1% — the lowest level of pessimism also since Aug. 2 and also the third week in a row that bearish views were below the long-term, historical average of 31.0%. Neutral opinion rose to 31.1% from 28.1%, the highest since mid-October.

The latest survey isn’t great news for contrarians who try and bet against the market, believing that lofty bullishness means a lot of investor stock purchases have already been made and there’s less cash on the sidelines that will be willing to commit to stocks.

— Scott Schnipper