The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

Singapore-listed CapitaLand Investment’s portfolio spans the globe. The real estate investment player has operations in more than 40 countries and more than 220 cities.  And with such a significant global footprint, it’s no surprise that its keeping an eye on a different footprint. carbon footprint. CLI recently refreshed its sustainability master plan - integrating its 2050 net zero carbon emissions commitment. To find out more, Rachel Kelly spoke with Mr Vinamra Srivastava, CLI’s Chief Sustainability Officer.

In the first half of 2023, we’ve witnessed a slowdown in the global economy, a regional banking crisis in the US, and a disappointing reopening of the Chinese economy. But financial markets have shown resilience despite all those events.  In fact, the S&P 500 has performed well, primarily driven by large-cap technology stocks and investor interest in artificial intelligence related stocks. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Laurent Lequeu, Head of Portfolio Management & Research at Lumen Capital Investor, to find out more about how the first half was like for the financial markets and what we can expect for the second half of the year. Highlights: 00:53 - How did financial markets fare in the first half of the year? 01:38 - What was the performance of equities primarily driven by? 05:06 - What factors could affect the market from seeing a further rally?  05:40 - What's the outlook for the second half of the year? 07:11 - How should investors allocate their portfolios to protect themselves from further risks that may come in the coming months? 

J&T Express, a leading e-commerce logistics company in Southeast Asia & China, has recently filed for an IPO listing in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Although no details of the fundraising size and timeline has been revealed, sources say the proposed sale share is expected to raise between $500 million to $1 billion. This would make it one of the largest Hong Kong issues in 2023. J&T Express is the market leader in ASEAN and is a fledgling player in China. And this IPO, if successful, could be viewed as a proxy for TikTok’s e-commerce ascent. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, Head of Consumer and Internet at Alētheia Capital, and the author of the book "Investing In The COVID Era", to find out more about the significance of this listing. 

Basel IV will be a game changer for banks. The regulation, a finalisation of Basel III, will overhaul global bank capital requirements, including reforms to the standardised approach for credit risk. But what exactly is Basel IV? And how will this affect our local banks here in Singapore? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Rena Kwok, Credit Analyst of Asian Financials at Bloomberg Intelligence, to find out more. 

On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Geoff Howie, Market Strategist from the SGX to discuss how markets fared in the past week. They discuss STI''s performance and whether the STI is set to close to its lowest level since early November; whether this week's optimism in SingPost shares can last; whether Taylor Swift has an effect on UOB's performance going forward; as well as some of the highlights of the first half of the year. 

Diversify your portfolio. That’s the constant advice we hear from experts when it comes to investments. So when compared to investors who stick to one specific market, how does one with various other assets perform? How much more have they been profitable? And does holding your investments for longer really make a difference? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst, Capital.com, to find out more.  Highlights: 1:07 - Do a lot of investors really diversify their portfolios? 1:56 - How much more profitable were those who had more than one asset class? 2:43 - What to look out for when choosing the asset class you want to invest in 3:47 - How long should you hold on to your investments? 6:33 - What should first time traders be investing in first?

The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and Singapore Exchange Regulation have joined forces  to launch a public consultation on the recommendations by the Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee with one goal in mind - to advance climate reporting here. The recommendations require Listed Issuers to lead the way and report International Sustainability Standards Board -aligned climate-related disclosures starting from financial year 2025. Large Non-Listed Companies with annual revenue of at least $1 billion will follow suit in FY2027. The public consultation launched today will run until the end of September this year.

Palm oil can be found in roughly 50% of products on supermarket shelves.  But, this extremely versatile product is also a highly contentious one.  That is because of the way sustainability and ethical concerns surrounding palm oil farming. Golden Agri Resources is a global leader in palm oil production, it says that sustainability is at the heart of its daily operations, and has been for more than two decades, since it became the first Indonesian palm oil company to adopt a Zero Burning Policy in 1997. To find out more about sustainable palm oil production - Rachel Kelly spoke with Anita Neville, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Relations, Golden Agri-Resources.

The airline sector starts the second half of the year with investors looking for the recent hot streak in share prices to extend. US airline shares saw big gains in June - but was the same case for Asia? Shares of Singapore Airlines were also rallying earlier this year, but saw a recent slump after a block of shares amounting to nearly 3% of the float were traded. So has the rally in SIA shares fizzled out? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Shukor Yusof, Founder, Endau Analytics to find out more. 

Following a historical high level of central bank gold buying, gold continues to be viewed favourably by central banks as a reserve asset. And that’s according to the World Gold Council. But why this strong demand? What factors in the current market are leading central banks to rely on gold? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Shaokai Fan, Head of Asia-Pacific (ex-China) & Global Head of Central Banks, from the World Gold Council, to find out more.