China stocks up, Hong Kong shares fall, U.S. markets shut

The China travel stocks index jumped 2.1% in early trading Monday, rising to its highest level since Jan. 30.

Shanghai-listed Air China rises climbed 1.2%, China Southern Airlines gained 1.7%, while Hong Kong-listed Chinese online tourism services group Tongcheng Travel rose 1.5%.

Shenzhen-listed stocks of Toread Holdings gained 4% and Western Regions Tourism Development added 2.4%.

China’s travel activity and spending jumped above pre-pandemic levels during the Lunar New year holiday, according to official data.

Some 474 million domestic trips were made during the eight-day festival, a 34.3% jump from a year earlier, according to data released by the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Sunday.

Tourists spent nearly 632.7 billion yuan ($87.95 billion) on domestic holiday trips, a 47.3% year-over-year jump, data showed. Both metrics were above 2019 levels.

The broader CSI 300 index added 0.6%.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Two funds investing in defensive stocks are the only exchange-traded funds worldwide that had a positive return every year over the past decade, CNBC Pro research has found.

The two funds stood out among 8,300 equity ETFs worldwide screened by CNBC Pro. Both funds have more than doubled investors’ cash over the past decade.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Equity markets have been having a pretty good year so far, with the S&P 500 benchmark closing above 5,000 for the first time last week.

“I think it is very encouraging because what it says is that earnings estimates for this year are not going down, and they’re potentially, probably going higher. And that’s important for the market,” Andrew Slimmon, managing director and senior portfolio manager and Morgan Stanley Investment Management, told CNBC.

Saying it’s going to be a “good year for equities,” Slimmon shared three stocks he likes.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

All three major indexes ended Friday in the red, breaking their five-week winning streak.

The S&P 500 slid 0.48% to end at 5,005.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 145.13 points, or 0.37%, settling at 38,627.99. The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.82% to finish at 15,775.65.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Consumer confidence and inflation expectations changed little in the latest University of Michigan survey, as respondents weighed stock market volatility and varying signs on prices.

The February sentiment reading came in at 79.6, nudging up just 0.6 points from January and just missing the Dow Jones estimate for 80.

On inflation expectations, the one-year outlook inched higher to 3%, up one-tenth of a percentage point on a monthly basis, while the five-year outlook held at 2.9%. Both are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal, though continuing to show signs of moderating. By comparison, the one-year outlook a year ago was 4.2%.

“The fact that sentiment lost no ground this month suggests that consumers continue to feel more assured about the economy, confirming the considerable improvements in December and January across various aspects of the economy,” said Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.

—Jeff Cox