The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

The first trading day of September was the worst day for the markets since the early August dips, but that August dip quickly went back in the green and once again, new highs in the market were tested on S&P 500.    So as markets have started out September in red again, can we look at the August performance and expect something similar and if so, would that make the red start to September a buy the dip opportunity? Sean Cheong discusses the current market conditions technically and debates with Isaac Lim, Chief Investment and Market Strategist at moomoo Singapore, who weighs on where the markets are going to next.

The European Commission told automakers in June that it would impose extra duties of up to 38.1 per cent on imported Chinese electric cars from July in a move that China called protectionist. More recently, Canada and the US too imposed tariffs, accusing China of subsidising its EV industry, giving its car makers an unfair advantage. How large is the Chinese EV market vis-à-vis the global EV market and where is this dispute heading to next? Gary Ng, Senior Economist at Natixis, explains this to us.

Dual-key apartment units are usually associated with private property like condominiums. Recently you might have come across news articles in The Straits Times and The Business Times about HDB flats being turned into dual-unit homes. Is this concept more common than we know of? How can HDB owners do this without getting into trouble? What are the implications to the HDB market?  Brandon Zheng, Division Director at ERA shares his views.

Is your company ready to meet ESG reporting requirements?It can be complicated to navigate differing regulations and requirements if you are looking at cross market reporting.  The Sustainable Finance Institute Asia has announced the appointment of Environmental, Social, and Governance data and technology solutions company, STACS ESGpedia, as the official ESG platform partner for the Single AccessPoint for ESG Data ‘SAFE’ Initiative. The SAFE Initiative is a regional approach to tackling the issue of ESG data, bringing together key stakeholders, including governments, regulators, standard setters, financial institutions, corporates, and SMEs, towards championing data and disclosures for ASEAN and beyond. Rachel Kelly speaks to Benjamin Soh, Founder and Managing Director at STACS ESGpedia to find out more.

Singapore has joined the top ranks of real estate markets in terms of transparency. This is according to JLL and LaSalle's biennial Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) which placed Singapore in the “Highly Transparent” group of markets under the latest Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI). The report serves as a guide for companies operating in foreign markets.  Dr Chua Yang Liang, Head of Research and Consultancy, Southeast Asia, at global real estate services company,  JLL, explains the importance of transparency, particularly in uncertain times, and the common factors among the most transparent markets in the world.

Data storing is an important part of our working lives. As long as you use a computer regularly, you’d have to store data one way or another. Much of this stored data is used only once before it goes to the archives, where it continues to take up space and resources. “Dark data” refers to the vast amount of unstructured and untapped information that organisations collect but do not actively analyse or utilise. This poses a critical risk with AI adopted as a potent weapon in arsenals of cybercriminals. How do we illuminate dark data and turn it into a goldmine? Eric Kong, Managing Director of unified identity security firm SailPoint, sheds some light on making dark data work for businesses.

Malaysia has called off the search for a 48-year old woman who fell into a sinkhole after nine days of painstaking efforts. What could have caused the 8-meter deep sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur that swallowed the Indian tourist on August 23? What should we know about sinkholes? Is Singapore less susceptible to sinkhole formation? Associate Professor Wu Wei from NTU School of Civil and Environmental Engineering explains what causes a sinkhole and the technologies that can mitigate sinkhole risks and damage. 

For the past few days, investors had been keenly awaiting the earnings release from California-based Nvidia, which has become a bellwether for the tech sector owing to its huge role in the development of AI chips. Many have grown used to outsized profits and revenues and were left disappointed after the tech titan failed to live up to investor hopes with its latest results. Yeap Junrong, Market Strategist from IG, gives his take on Nvidia's quarterly earnings and throws a trading idea.  

HDB resale flats have been making headlines with high prices and this trend has been going on for a few months with many reports of new record numbers being set. According to property site 99.co, a 3-room HDB flat sold for a record $860,000 in Bukit Merah. Looking at its price, is it likely that the buyer paid more than $400K cash over valuation? Singer-songwriter Taufik Batisah, who is also the Associate Branch Director at Propnex, shares his views including whether more should be done to enable first-time home buyers to purchase property.

The retail landscape has dramatically transformed since the GSS began in 1994. In addition to shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are now regular monthly sales on double-digit days which can lead to discount fatigue. As consumer expectations shift, how can retailers future-proof their operations, stay relevant and achieve success? Yash Thakker, Director of Cloud Consulting of Searce, one of Google Cloud's largest partners globally, tells us more.