The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

During the month of August, financial markets were heavily focused on China and its sluggish economic recovery, as the nation reported a sequence of continuously  disappointing data. But even as markets suffered losses in the wake of this data, long-term US Treasury yields witnessed a rebound, as bond vigilantes returned. So what led to the return of the bond market? How will current economic conditions continue to shape the performance of financial assets beyond the end of 2023, and what lies ahead for financial markets? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Laurent Lequeu, Head of Portfolio Management & Research, Lumen Capital Investors, to find out more. Highlights: 01:10 - Why did financial markets last month witness seasonal weakness? 01:49 - Is China really melting down?  03:39 - How did bonds perform last month? 04:41 - Why is there a divergence between equity markets and real yields? 06:59 - What lies ahead for financial markets?

Key data released this past weekend showed an easing of China’s deflationary pressures for the month of August. The consumer price index was 0.1% higher year on year in August, lower than a Reuters poll of analysts who predicted a 0.2% increase. Most importantly, though, the index emerged out of the negative territory of -0.3% recorded in July. The producer price index, on the other hand, fell 3% from a year earlier, against a 4.4% drop in July. The drop in factory prices was the smallest in five months. Analysts maintain that China will need to implement more policy support to shore up consumer demand, with a slowing labour market recovery and household income expectations uncertain. So where does the world's second largest economy go from here? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Tao Zhang, China Markets Editor, Bloomberg, to find out more. 

In sunny singapore solar is an important component of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. But as we know, the sun doesn’t shine 24 hours a day, so for those looking to implement solar panels - how can they store that energy? VFlowTech is a Singapore-based long duration energy storage solutions provider manufacturing low-cost and efficient modular vanadium redox flow batteries.  Sounds technical doesn’t it? Rachel Kelly speaks to Dr. Arjun Bhattarai is the Co-Founder and CTO at VFlowTech to find out more. 

Housing was one of the central themes of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech.  In fact, under a new framework designed to ensure affordability and cap resale prices of public housing, buyers of new HDB flats in sought-after locations will be subject to stricter resale conditions from next year.  Will these measures have a big impact on the property market? And When can we see the effects coming in? Separately, it looks like million-dollar flat transactions hit a new high in August 2023. What’s driving these transaction volumes? Is this the best time to buy property?  And for renters, have rental prices finally tumbled? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Audrey Siek, Show Host and Producer, Ohmyhome, to find out more. 

On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Candace Li, Research Analysts at the SGX for market wrap of the week. We find out how the STI fared in the past week, the biggest movers, as well as some economic news including how Singapore's 2023 growth forecast was cut to 1%, what that means for Singapore's economy as well the retails sales data that showed 1.1% growth year-on-year.

In the past several weeks, Brent oil prices have risen by more than 8%. And they’re set to rise further as Saudi Arabia and Russia extend oil export cuts.  Earlier this week Saudi Arabia and Russia extended voluntary oil supply cuts to year end, with the Saudi cutting by 1 million barrels per day and Russia cutting 300,000 bpd. These were on top of the April cut agreed by several OPEC+ producers running to the end of 2024. Some traders speculate crude to rally towards the $100 rally. But is that too optimistic?  On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Kurt Barrow, Refining & LPG/NGLs Lead of Oil Markets at S&P Global Commodity Insights, to find out more. 

Gold prices remain pressured at the lowest level in a week, after declining the most in a month the previous day. That's as the United States soft landing concerns underpin the US Dollar strength. The dollar, meanwhile, is ignoring softer US data while cheering the hawkish Fed. On top of that, downbeat concerns about China, one of the world’s gold consumers, are now also favoring the Gold sellers. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Priyanka Sachdeva, Senior Market Analyst at Phillip Nova, to find out more about gold price movements. 

The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points in their last meeting. Now speculations are rising that they might end their tightening cycle soon. But with interest rates remaining high, how should investors be allocating their assets in order to get the best returns? Should you be looking at REITs and Money Market Funds? To find out more, on Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Wilfred Lim, Head of Strategy, Investment Solutions at PhillipCapital. Highlights:  01:12 - How have REITs and money market funds performed so far this year?  02:02 - Why should investors look at REITs and money market funds in a rising rate environment? 03:30 - What kind of opportunities are there in REITs and money market funds?  04:30 - Are they any specific REITs or money market funds investors should take note of? 07:00 - What’s the outlook on money market funds and REITs for the rest of the year?

According to Bloomberg, the strength of the US stock rally in 2023 has taken several market participants by surprise. Bulls, however, point to solid economic growth in the face of high interest rates as a sign of confidence. Outperforming tech names, boosted by the artificial intelligence frenzy, have helped sustain those gains. Chinese stocks - and, by extension, Asian shares - have also jumped after the nation rolled out further property support measures, the latest in a robust campaign to rescue the struggling sector that’s been dragging down the economy. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Thilan Wickramasinghe, Head of Equity Research, Maybank Securities, to delve further into these market movements.

The continuously rising fortunes of the Magnificent Seven group of megacap stocks - those with a capitalization or market value over $200 billion - including the likes of Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, have garnered plenty of attention in the first half of this year. What has driven this rally and is it set to continue through to the end of 2023? The upcoming initial public offering of British chipmaker Arm on the Nasdaq is garnering worldwide attention. It is set to be the biggest offering of the year - could it reignite IPO activity in the tech sector? Furthermore, electric car maker Vinfast has been dominating news headlines with some staggering share price jumps and falls in recent times. What's behind the volatility? On Money in the Market, Emaad Akhtar speaks to Shauraya Bhutani, Co-Founder & Partner, Capital Connect Advisors to find out more.