Korea Producer Price, Thailand Trade, Japanese Yen, Hang Seng index

Destination Wealth CEO Michael Yoshikami said he expects “tremendous” market volatility in 2023, but investors need not stay on the sidelines.

“Boring. That’s the key,” he said. “The alternative is you pull the money out of the market, you put it in cash till the market comes back. So, this is a way for you to safely still be in the market in more defensive names while still being able to participate in the market if it rises.”

He named six big-cap stocks that investors can take shelter in.

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— Zavier Ong

South Korea’s producer price index for November grew 6.3% compared to a year ago, marking the slowest growth since April 2021 and seeing fifth consecutive month of declines.

Compared to a month ago, the index fell 0.2%, driven by a decline in agricultural product prices.

The producer price index is a measure of what companies get for their products in the pipeline.

—Lee Ying Shan

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index jumped to 108.3 in December from 101.4 in November, topping a StreetAccount consensus estimate of 100.5. The number was also the index’s highest since April.

“Inflation expectations retreated in December to their lowest level since September 2021, with recent declines in gas prices a major impetus. Vacation intentions improved but plans to purchase homes and big-ticket appliances cooled further,” Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement.

“This shift in consumers’ preference from big-ticket items to services will continue in 2023, as will headwinds from inflation and interest rate hikes,” Franco added.

— Fred Imbert

Stocks rose for a second day on Wednesday following upbeat earnings results from Nike and FedEx.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 526.74 points, or 1.6%, to finish at 33,376.48. The S&P 500 surged 1.49% to settle at 3,878.44, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.54% to end at 10,709.37.

— Samantha Subin

Goldman Sachs’ Jan Hatzius isn’t counting on the Federal Reserve cutting rates next year, and that’s because the economy will most likely avoid a recession in 2023, he told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Wednesday.

“We’re not looking for cuts, because we’re not looking for a recession,” the chief economist said, pegging the recession odds at 35% and below consensus estimates. “Our expectation, or baseline, is that the economy continues to grow and the adjustment process in the labor market continues, but without a recession.”

He pointed to two pockets of strength in the economy supporting this view. Real household disposable income, despite declining earlier this year, is growing as headline inflation moves lower.

Financial conditions have already tightened significantly, and the lags from those rate hikes are likely already underway, Hatzius said. To be sure, the impact on activity could take a few quarters, but the effect on growth is relatively short, he added.

In 2023, Hatzius expects a deflation in goods, with service inflation likely taking longer to decelerate. Markets have already begun to see relief in the housing and rental market, although those signs have yet to make their way into the consumer price index, he said.

“If GDP is still growing at a 1% pace, which is kind of our forecast over the next few quarters, then payroll growth slows substantially further but still stays positive,” he said. “Obviously, month to month, there is going to be more volatility around that, but we don’t have trend declines.”

— Samantha Subin