The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

As widely expected, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, but once again left the door open to further increase in borrowing costs.  But this time, there was a dovish pivot from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.  He’s hinted that the central bank may now be finished with the most aggressive tightening cycle in four decades.  On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Vishnu Varathan, Head of Economics & Strategy, Asia at Mizuho Bank, to find out more.

The Bank of Japan has made its interest rate decision this week, allowing more flexibility in its yield curve control policy, and shifting the language used to describe the upper bound of the 10-year Japanese government bond yield. But it still remained to stick with its negative interest rate.  So how did the Japanese yen react to this latest announcement? Is the yen expected to further retreat?  On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Lim Jun Kit, Strategist at Phillip Nova, to find out more.

Would it surprise you to know that the number of instances of greenwashing by banks and financial services companies around the world rose by 70% in the past 12 months. Are all of these instances intentional? OR are companies getting caught up in eco jargon? What is greenwashing anyway? And what role does the media play in tackling the issue. This was the topic of a recent panel discussion organised by the Singapore Press Club titled “Cutting Through the Greenwashing”. I sat on the panel and was joined by Esther An, CSO, CDL, Anil Changaroth, Partner at RHT Law, Quentin Fouesnant, Managing Director Zuno Carbon, Robin Hicks, Associate Editor, Eco Business and Jasmine Tuan, Co-founder of Cloop

Developing countries face an investment gap of $2 trillion annually for the energy transition, out of a $4 trillion annual funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals. That’s according to the United Nations. Earlier this year it called for urgent support to developing countries to enable them to attract significantly more investment for their transition to clean energy. But barriers remain, policy, politics, and perhaps technology. So how do we bridge this financing gap? Rachel Kelly speaks to Kelvin Wong, Managing Director and Deputy Head of Energy, Renewables and Infrastructure, DBS to find out. 

Asian currencies have been feeling the pain as the US dollar continues its winning streak since mid-July, which is the greenback’s longest such run in nearly a decade. And this is on the back of the US Federal Reserve’s “higher for longer” interest rate policy and increasing Treasury yields.  But what about Asian stocks? What effect does a stronger dollar have on Asian markets?  On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Paul Chew, Head of Research, Phillip Securities Research, to find out more.

October - usually known as the month when stocks tend to see heavy declines - is coming to an end. So how did this year’s spookiest month fare?  It seems like with the volatility index VIX hitting 20, stocks on the brink of its worst October in five years, and the bond market throwing a fit every other day, markets have been under turmoil.  But can we see an upside in markets by the end of the year? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Wong Kok Hoong, Head of Equity Sales Trading, Maybank Securities to find out more.

The complacency that has helped investment markets to do well in the first half of this year has given way.  Financial markets are now roiled with the realisation that US inflation remains sticky despite significant Fed rate hikes, the US jobs market still remains very resilient, the Fed funds rate will stay high for longer, and a possible US recession that has been delayed but not averted. So how should investors be readjusting their portfolios to these new realities? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Vasu Menon, Managing Director, Investment Strategy, OCBC, to find out more. 

On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong is joined by Geoff Howie, Market Strategist, SGX for a market wrap of the week. The discuss how the STI performed in the past week; the biggest movers; how UOB shares reponded to the latest business update; some things to note from the earnings results so far; as well as some economic data including Singapore inflation numbers that was released earlier this week. 

We’re just about a week ahead of the next US Fed interest rate decision. While it’s widely expected that interest rates will stand pat once again, more clues on the policy path will be provided post-decision.  So how is the US dollar faring ahead of this decision? Can we expect more volatility? What are some of the risks FX traders should be looking out for?On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Simon Harvey, Head of FX Analysis at MonFX, to find out more about the outlook of the greenback. 

Since the start of the Israel Hamas war on October 7th, market reaction to the conflict has been limited, mostly to small moves in haven assets. But any future financial impact depends on escalation risks and potential changes to crude oil supply. So, how should investors mitigate their assets to protect themselves from such a worst case scenario? What assets can investors seek safety in? Should they stay away from equities? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Rajat Bhattacharya, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered, to find out more. Highlights: 1:07 - What are some of the near-term effects of the Israel-Hamas conflict on markets?  2:56 - What assets would be at most risk if tensions escalate? 4:15 - How should investors then mitigate their assets to protect themselves from a worst-case scenario?  5:25 - Is it too late for investors to invest in gold now?  8:24 - Should investors stay away from equities for the time being given the recent volatility?