The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

A resilient US economy and cooling inflation had triggered an intense year-end bond rally. But some market watchers suspect investors are too optimistic about the months ahead. In fact, fears of a prolonged stretch of higher interest rates have repeatedly driven the yield to decade-plus highs, only for the stress on the banking system and a Federal Reserve pivot to drag it down again. So what can we expect from the bond market in the year ahead? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Carol Lye, Portfolio Manager & Senior Research Analyst, Brandywine Global Investment Management, to find out more.

According to the World Health Organisation, 'Disease X' is a hypothetical future international epidemic caused by a pathogen as yet unknown to cause human disease. But despite it being a hypothetical disease, 'Disease X' could be 20 times more deadly than the COVID-19 virus. The topic has also made it into the agenda of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. So what exactly is Disease X? And how can we prepare for its potential outbreak? On What's Trending, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Professor Dale Fisher, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Senior Consultant, National University Hospital, about this looming disease. Highlights: 1. What exactly is Disease X? - 1:39 2. Should we be concerned? - 3:24 3. How can countries enhance their preparedness and create robust systems to effectively manage any potential breakouts? - 4:26 4. What critical areas do you believe should be added to improve global readiness for future pandemics? - 9:38 5. Looking ahead, what kind of preparations would be required for an effective response to possible infectious threats, and how can countries like Singapore proactively prepare for such? - 11:25

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has issued a statement on former transport minister S. Iswaran - who is facing 27 charges including corruption. Speaking to reporters, DPM Wong said he is ‘disappointed and saddened’ - but reiterated that the People’s Action Party’s stance on corruption is non-negotiable. READ MORE: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pap-s-stance-on-corruption-is-non-negotiable-part-of-its-dna-dpm-lawrence-wong-on-iswaran-s-case

Major banks have already kicked off reporting their earnings results - with the latest being Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs group. While the results so far have been mixed, analysts remain optimistic on earnings despite economic growth weakening, inflation remaining elevated, and liquidity declining. Some say this earnings season will be critical for stocks after a rough start to the year. What could a disappointing season look like for markets? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Rajat Bhattacharya, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered, to find out what key sectors investors should look out for this earnings season.

2023 may have seen a spotlight cast on controversy around ESG investing. Greenwashing and confusing terminology may have punched a dent in ESG’s credibility. Could this give way to greater clarity around language, goals and intentions in the year ahead? MSCI ESG Research’s Sustainability and Climate Trends for 2024 is hot off the press.  Rachel Kelly speaks to Yu Ishihara, Executive Director, MSCI ESG & Climate Research to get the details. 

The final quarter of 2023 saw a rally in seemingly everything, which caught most investors off-guard, especially in fixed income markets. The US 10 year Treasury yield had peaked near 5% back in October, before falling to around 3.9% by the end of 2023. Some investors hope that the momentum from the fourth quarter of 2023 will accelerate in the new year. So is the bond market poised to skyrocket in 2024? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Omar Slim, Co-Head of Asia ex-Japan of Fixed Income at PineBridge Investments, to find out more about the outlook of fixed income markets in 2024.

Since last week, the first US ETFs that invest directly in Bitcoin have begun trading. Billions of dollars changed hands, with the token briefly surging past $49,000 following the US SEC approval of such ETFs. But now, Bitcoin has posted its worst streak in about a month, dropping for four straight days - the worst such run since mid-December. So has the ETF optimism now evaporated? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Suvashree Ghosh, Crypto Currency Reporter for APAC at Bloomberg to find out how Bitcoin has since responded to the latest development, and how the new spot Bitcoin ETFs fared in the past first few trading days.

A recent report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Oxford Economics found that South-East Asia will see a resilient economic momentum this quarter, including in Singapore. However, the outlook ahead remains cautious due to falling private consumption and slow global growth. Growth is expected to grow by 4.3% in 2023 and 4.2% in 2024, below the pre-pandemic average of 5% per year. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Dr Arup Raha, ICAEW Economic Advisor and Chief Economist for Asia-Pacific, Oxford Economics to find out more about Singapore’s economic performance in comparison to the region and ASEAN outlook for 2024.

On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong is joined byJihye Lee, Research Analyst at the SGX for a market wrap of the week. They dive into how the STI performed in the past; the biggest movers on the STI; the latest development with Keppel and whether it can outperform again in 2024; what the latest US CPI signals; as well as a new AI-powered ETF that's set to be launched later this month.

It’s official, 2023 was the hottest year on record. That’s according to the latest findings from the Copernicus  2023 Global Climate Highlights report. And not only was 2023 the hottest, 2023 was the first year on record where all days were in excess of 1°C above pre industrial leves, with two days exceeding 2°C for the first time. Rachel Kelly has the details in this episode of Eco Money.