The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

Housing prices are increasing here in Singapore amid a time of slowing growth and rising mortgage rates. Rental market is expected to continue its upward trend in 2023 due to rising costs and surging demand. Last month, The Business Times even described that 2023 would be “another year of pain for tenants” as higher property taxes and interest rates are likely to contribute to more increases in rents. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex, to find out more about the current state of the property market and what the outlook is like.

Emerging markets are set to rebound in 2023, boosted by the re-opening of China. That's according to the Federated Hermes' Global Emerging Markets Outlook. Rebounds in South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil and the stability of India, Indonesia and Mexico is said to support emerging markets’ growth. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Kunjal Gala, Head of Global Emerging Markets at Federated Hermes to find out more on this report and how Asian markets will help support EMs rebound this year.

The US dollar looks set to gain further against some of its peers on relative outperformance of the US economy and monetary policy edge. In his semi-annual testimony to lawmakers, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stepped up hawkishness, saying the ultimate rate peak is likely to be higher than expected and the central bank is prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes if needed. But how are regional currencies affected? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Lim Jun Kit, Strategist at Phillip Nova to find out how the US dollar is faring and how the strong dollar is affecting the regional currencies.

Is greenwashing here to stay? How can businesses better tackle issues related to adapting to become more sustainable? These were some of the questions answered at the Inaugural Earth Hour Summit. In this podcast, host, Rachel Kelly brings you highlights from the summit and speaks with WWF CEO, R Ragunathan, for his thoughts on the future of WWF Singapore. 

Gender diversity is in focus today on Money in the Market. Does gender diversity even matter to investors? Why should it matter? Well according to MSCI, which has been tracking gender diversity of corporate boards since 2009. Nearly 40% of constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index had at least 30% of board seats held by women, a milestone that many investors, regulators and other stakeholders have long advocated for. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Miranda Carr, Executive Director, Global Head, Applied ESG & Climate Research at MSCI to find out why this is important to note and why gender diversity matters to investors. Highlights:  01:07 - At least 30% of board seats held by women - why is this a milestone? 02:20 - Where does Singapore stand in gender diversity?  04:52 - How does gender fit into ESG issues?  07:10 - Why does gender diversity matter to investors?  09:26 - How can we evaluate gender diversity in our investment process? 

The global stock market took a tumble in February following a robust surge in January. Despite some encouraging economic indicators, it seems unlikely that there will be a break in the upward trend of interest rates anytime soon. And some say the headwinds for equities are set to increase even further in March. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong spoke to Shen Hong, editor at Bloomberg News to find what’s set to drive markets in the coming weeks. 

We saw a reversal in trends in stock markets in the month of February. There was nowhere for investors to hide in February's market reversal. But how did the STI withstand all of this? And what will March bring us? Will it be full of madness? For a market wrap of the week, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Geoff Howie, Market Strategist at the SGX to take a look back at what February was like for the STI and what March will bring us next. 

Stocks in Asia started 2023 in a bull market. Investors have been cheered by China’s pivot away from its zero-Covid policy, the ending of its crackdown on tech companies and Beijing’s renewed commitment to growing the world’s second biggest economy. But now it seems like that optimism has already been priced in. In February we saw a reversal of trend in the stock market, leaving us with the question - is the bull market over for Asian stocks? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Kelvin Tay, Regional Chief Investment Officer at UBS, to find out whether there is room for stocks to rally further, or if the bull run really is over for Asian markets.

Certain credit factors have always been a part of credit risk analysis. But as ESG factors have been known to impact companies, their relative importance with respect to credit has been increasing. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Philipp Buff, Investment manager of Developed Markets Credit at Pictet Asset Management to find more about what sustainable credit is, and what it covers.

As Wall Street faced some heavy sell-offs in recent days, Asian markets followed suit, despite seeing a huge rally in the beginning of the year due to the optimism of China’s faster-than-expected reopening. So what’s moving Asian markets at the moment? And how do the current state of Asian stock markets compare to other global stock markets? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong finds out more with Sani Hamid, Director for Wealth Management, Financial Alliance on what’s moving markets in the region.  Highlights:  01:07 - Has markets priced in all of the optimism surrounding China's reopening?  02:03 - What's moving Asian markets at the moment?  03:10 - Which specific markets in Asia are performing well or poorly? 04:49 - How are investors responding to the current state of Asian stock markets? 06:05 - How do Asian stock markets compare to other global stock markets?