The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

How often do you conduct a financial transaction online or on your mobile phone? This luxury isn't available to everyone.  In Southeast Asia for example, 225 million people lack access to a bank account, and 350 million do not have access to formal credit.  Micro, small and medium enterprises are also facing a significant funding gap as a result of being underbanked. In fact, 39 million micro, small, and medium enterprises face a funding gap of up to US$300 billion. To get a better understanding of the unserved situation, Rachel Kelly speaks with Dawn Chan, she is the CEO of the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices.

It seems over the past few years that countries have been rolling out net zero goals faster than you can say - decarbonisation. But the clock is ticking towards these targets and it is time for action. According to the latest report by Bain & Company, Temasek, GenZero and Amazon Web Services  - Governments across Southeast Asia have set climate ambitions, but not enough action has been taken to meet nationally determined contribution targets by 2030. The report highlights that SEA faces a unique set of challenges, making decarbonization particularly difficult. In this episode of Eco Money, Rachel Kelly speaks to Dale Hardcastle, Global Head of Carbon Markets and Director of Global Sustainability Innovation Center, Bain & Company to find out more.

The Japanese stock market is attracting eyeballs from around the world, with the benchmark Nikkei breaching the 33,000 mark, hitting a 33-year high in recent times.  The latest surge has even caught the attention of billionaire investor Warren Buffet, whose investment company Berkshire Hathaway just this week purchased additional shares in five major Japanese trading houses, sending its average ownership of them to more than 8.5%. So, what are the factors contributing to this bullish run, and can it continue? On Money in the Market, Emaad Akhtar speaks to Daniel Hurley, Portfolio Specialist for Emerging Market & Japan Equities, T. Rowe Price to find out more. 

Despite strong headwinds, mostly related to the ripple effects from the war in Ukraine and high global inflation, the global economy has proven resilient so far in 2023. The upturn, however, remains weak, amid significant downside risks. Core inflation is proving persistent and the impact of higher interest rates is increasingly being felt across the economy. So what’s the outlook for the second half of the year, and what trends can we expect across macroeconomic indicators such as interest rates and inflation? On Money in the Market, Emaad Akhtar speaks to Jeremy Tan, CEO, Tiger Fund Management to find out more.

China’s central bank last week cut the interest rate on its medium-term funding for financial institutions, marking its third policy rate change in three days amid efforts to support the slowing economy through renewed monetary loosening. How do these moves affect the future outlook for markets in China and globally? Another big decision will be made tomorrow regarding the loan prime rate. Can we also expect the central bank to make cuts on that front? On Money in the Market, Emaad Akhtar speaks to David Finnerty, FX/Rates Strategist at Bloomberg, to find out more. Highlights 1:13 - Were the PBOC's lending rate cuts a surprise move? 3:06 - What was the impact of rate cuts on Chinese and global markets? 5:08 - Did the US Fed's decision to hold steady on interest rates have a bearing on PBOC's decision? 6:17 - Is there a possibility China's central central bank will slash rates further? 8:03 - What other measures should be taken to encourage businesses to invest?

Speculation was rife about the performance of the US dollar as markets deliberated upon whether or not the US Fed would hold firm on interest rates, or tighten its monetary policy. The Fed ultimately decision to pause rates, while also signalling that borrowing costs will increase by another 50 basis points by end-December, causing the greenback to rally in Asian trading. How and why did this happen? Meanwhile, the Japanese yen fell to a 7-month low following the Fed's decision. Was this surprising, and how have other Asian currencies fared? On Money in the Market, Emaad Akhtar speaks to Simon Harvey, Head of FX Analysis at MonFX, to find out more. 

The US Fed decision to keep interest rates steady at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting this week has moved markets around the world. How have Singapore shares and banks reacted to the latest pause? On the economic front - Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports were down a surprising 14.7 per cent in May, a steeper slide than April’s 9.8 per cent contraction. What can we make of these numbers? Meanwhile, private sector economists have downgraded their full-year economic growth forecast for Singapore to 1.4 per cent this year in a quarterly survey. Was this expected? On Market Wrap, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Candace Li, Research Analyst, SGX, to find out more. 

The US Federal Reserve announced it would hold its policy rate steady today at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. It marked first time the US Fed has not raised rates since March 2022, when it launched the first of ten consecutive increases. The target range for the federal funds rate thus stays at 5–5.25%. How are markets reaction to this decision and can we expect further hikes in the future? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Wong Kok Hoong, Head of Equity Sales Trading, Maybank Securities, to find out more.  Highlights 1:12 - Was the US Fed's decision to pause rates widely anticipated?  1:41 -  How much did recent US CPI inflation numbers play into this decision? 4:17 -  How are Asian markets reacting to the US Fed's rate pause? 6:56 - When can we expect the US Fed to hike rates again? 9:36 - How are Treasury yields faring in the aftermath of this decision?

Gold is in the midst of a pivotal week as traders and investors await the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision late on Wednesday.  How is the continued repricing of rate hike probabilities for the US Federal Reserve weighing on the recovery of Gold prices? And what factors could determine the direction of gold prices going forward? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Priyanka Sachdeva, Market Analyst, PhillipNova, to find out more. 

Oil prices rose initially in the immediate aftermath of Saudi Arabia's unilateral decision to reduce output by a million barrels per day from July. However, prices have since declined after analysts highlighted rising global supplies and concerns about demand growth just ahead of key inflation data and a US Federal Reserve meeting that concludes on Wednesday. So what is the price outlook for global benchmarks moving forward? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to KangWu, Head of Global Demand and Asia Analytics CEO for S&P Global Commodity Insights, to find out more.