South Korea stocks close at two-week highs as Samsung rallies: Asia markets largely higher

Consumer spending in China isn't growing as quickly as it did before the pandemic, analysts said.

Retail sales for the Sept. 29 to Oct. 5 holiday period rose by 9% from a year ago, according to state media reports of Ministry of Commerce data. The figures excluded the final day of the Golden Week holiday.

Analysts pointed to factors including the impact of the property slump — since much of household wealth is in real estate — and a decline in government spending due to local debt troubles as reasons contributing to slowdown in consumer spending.

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— Evelyn Cheng, Shreyashi Sanyal

South Korean stocks jumped about 2%, hitting a two-week high on a boost from chip giant Samsung Electronics.

Samsung is expecting a 78% drop in operating profit in the quarter ended September, according to guidance released by the company. The operating profit forecast was slightly higher than analyst expectations. Shares of the company jumped 3.77%.

Counterpart SK Hynix rose about 3%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The Bank of Japan is reportedly considering raising its inflation outlook for the current business year ending March to almost 3%, up from the current forecast of 2.5%.

Japanese media outlet Kyodo News, citing unnamed sources, reported that "the upward revision is meant to reflect price hikes that have been broadening further than expected and rising crude oil prices... with the yen's depreciation also boosting import prices."

Japan's central bank is set to release a fresh economic and price outlook report after its monetary policy meeting on Oct 31.

— Lim Hui Jie

Confidence among large Japanese manufacturers was subdued in October, according to the Reuters Tankan survey, which measures business sentiment among large Japanese companies.

The Reuters poll, which tracks the Bank of Japan's closely watched tankan quarterly survey, saw manufacturers' mood flat at +4 index points in October, although it was expected to inch up over the coming three months.

The services-sector mood edged up, as upbeat domestic demand helped partly offset the hit to the economy from global headwinds.

The service-sector index rose to +24 in October, slightly improving from +23 from the previous month.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Bank of America has identified five global stocks it says are set to benefit as the use cases of artificial intelligence applications grow significantly.

In an Oct. 3 note titled "End-device AI: Great potential with hidden gems awaits," the bank said customized and private AI services could soon be brought directly to users' end devices, revolutionizing smartphones, tablets, cars and more.

The analysts also likened end-device AI to J.A.R.V.I.S., the AI assistant used by Iron Man.

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— Ganesh Rao

Investors have to contend with an increasingly volatile market — wider geopolitical risks from the Israel-Hamas conflict are adding to the existing uncertainty from rising bond yields and higher rates.

Some analysts recommend buying dividend stocks as a way around it.

For those interested in that strategy, CNBC Pro screened for stocks with safe and high dividend yields.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin does not expect the Israel-Hamas conflict will have a huge impact on markets.

"It's a tragedy from a human point of view," Kostin told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday. "But the idea fundamentally, we'll be getting earnings for the last three months, which is obviously backward looking. And the prospects looking forward are probably more domestically facing issues that are sort of pertinent to a lot of portfolio managers."

"So less likely to have a big impact on a sustainable basis," Kostin said.

Still, the strategist expects other risk factors will continue to weigh on stocks, citing higher yields and oil prices that could impede multiple expansion. He expects the S&P 500 will end 2023 around the 4,300 level, which is a little lower than where the broader index was last trading at about 4,380. He added cash is attractive.

However, he does not anticipate a recession on the horizon.

— Sarah Min

A number of winners and losers have emerged from recent developments in the battery industry, according to analysts from Goldman Sachs, as it forecasts a "more rapid decline" in prices.

There are a number of stocks it expects to benefit, including one that it expects to soar.

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— Amala Balakrishner

Some travel-related stocks bounced back on Tuesday after selling off during the previous session amid a spike in oil prices and as the conflict unfolded between Israel and designated terrorist group Hamas.

Shares of United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines gained at least 3%. The stocks sold off by more than 4% each during Monday's session amid a slew of flight cancelations coming in an out of the country. JetBlue Airways popped 3.6%, while Southwest Airlines added more than 2%.

Cruise stocks Carnival and Royal Caribbean rose 3.1% and 2.7%, respectively. Hotel stocks Marriott and Hilton gained about 3% each.

— Samantha Subin

The consumer outlook for where inflation is headed worsened slightly in September, according to a New York Federal Reserve survey released Tuesday.

Expectations for inflation a year from now increased to 3.7%, up 0.1 percentage point from August, the survey showed. On a three-year basis, the outlook rose to 3%, up 0.2 percentage point. That came even though the outlook for gas, medical care and rent all declined.

Also in the survey, the expectation for the cost of education increase decelerated, down to 5.8% from 8.2%, the biggest one-month decline in the survey's history.

—Jeff Cox

The Nasdaq 100 crossed above the 50-day moving average level of 15,082.36 Tuesday morning, marking the first time it traded above the level on an intraday basis since Sep. 15. It has not closed above the 50-day moving average since Sep. 14.

Shares of Tesla, Amazon, PepsiCo and Nvidia are higher as of Monday morning and are having the most positive point impact on the overall index.

— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla