Market Watch

The US Federal Reserve concluded a two-day meeting on monetary policy by leaving interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. The Fed however did upgrade its view on the US economy, calling it "strong." Vishnu Varathan, Head of Economics at Mizuho Bank in Singapore helps us understand the Fed's outlook, ahead of Friday's jobs data. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The last trading day of July has just ended, with the major indices posting solid monthly gains. However, stocks have been under pressure recently amid a steep sell-off in tech. Will Apple's shiny earnings stem the bleeding in tech? Dodge Dorland, Chief Investment Officer of Landor & Fuest Capital Managers in New York shares his take on Apple's third-quarter results. See omnystudio.com/listene...

The Nasdaq has just posted it’s biggest 3-day decline since March, with FANG stocks dropping nearly 3 percent overnight. Joe shares his outlook on US tech counters, and also gives a brief preview of the major central bank policy decisions due this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US economy grew by 4.1% in the second quarter of the year; its fastest growth since 2014. Could this prompt the Fed to hike rates faster than anticipated this week? Kingsley also shares his outlook on key monetary policy decisions by major central banks this week, including the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US equities jumped overnight after US President Donald Trump reached an agreement with European Commission President aimed at averting a trade war. Vasu shares his insights on how markets would be impacted with the latest on Trump announcing a ‘new phase’ in US-EU relationship working towards ‘zero tariffs’. He also talks about investing strategy in the midst of t...

The Trump administration unveiled a US$12 billion aid package for US farmers, as China announced a slew of measures to boost domestic demand. Could this offset the downside risks stemming from the trade war between the world's two largest economies? Dodge weighs in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Top world finance chiefs recently warned that trade tensions are threatening global growth. With risks to the world economy increased, Joe says investors should look at national champions and small caps that are immune to trade tensions. He is underweight on European multinationals. We also talk about US corporate earnings and FANG stocks. What earnings trends should investors...

US President Donald Trump has accused China and the European Union of “manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower". Khoon Goh provides an overview as to how major central banks, including the People's Bank of China and the European Central Bank, may react to such global developments. He also believes Bank Negara Malaysia will stand pat on the overnight policy rate. See omnystudio...

Mikio Kumada, Global Strategist for HK-based LGT Capital Partners, discusses divergent rate policy among US, European and Japanese central banks and their implications for global equities. He also touches on Dollar strength and US corporate earnings. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vishnu sees downside risk mounting for global growth in the next 6 to 18 months. He reckons growth for this year will remain "fairly supported" and resilient. The International Monetary Fund recently warned that escalating trade tensions are threatening to derail a global upswing that’s already losing momentum. On top of this, financial markets also seem complacent to the mounting...

Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared before Congress for his semiannual monetary policy testimony, where he also briefly spoke against protectionism. Dodge shares his outlook on the Fed's rate normalization path, on the volatility in oil markets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony provides his analysis of the recently concluded Trump-Putin summit, China's latest GDP figures, and the ongoing trade tensions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen reckons markets are "seriously underpricing economic risk in China". Economists suspect the direct impact from the two sets of US tariffs aimed at Beijing could drag China’s GDP down by 0.3 percentage points in the longer run. Stephen also shares some insights on how China can contain the adverse impact from its ongoing trade war with the US. We also discuss the market expectation on...

After a turbulent first half of 2018, we take stock on how the local market has been performing. Cheryl Pola gives us her outlook for the remainder of 2018 and how markets have reacted to the aggressive reforms being pursued by the new government, and the impact of escalating US-China trade tensions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trade war between the world's two largest economies reached a new level after US President Donald Trump rolled out tariffs on an additional US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports. Dodge outlines the potential impact on global growth and on emerging markets. He also shares his expectations for the latest US earnings season and also this week's release of June US inflation data. See omnyst...

Bank Negara will announce its latest monetary policy decision at 3pm today. Jameel shares his outlook on Malaysia's monetary policy and the ringgit, amid heightened trade tensions between the US and China. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The total volume of sukuk rated by Fitch Ratings stood at US$80 billion at the end of 1Q18, which is a net increase of 6%, compared to end-2017. Bashar shares his outlook on the supply and demand dynamics of Islamic bonds, both here in Malaysia and globally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The exit of Britain’s Brexit Secretary from the government has sparked a spate of resignations that include foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Joe talks about what this means to the markets in the European region and the Pound. We discuss future concerns on the US-China trade tiff. Also, the US will be kicking off earnings season this week so Joe shares his insights on this and what secto...

On Friday US tariffs imposed a 25% duty on $34 billion of Chinese imports. Julia shares some potential retaliation measures that could come out from China. Nevertheless, she reckons the impact looks contained so far. China has been restrained in its reaction and she sees a possibility for a compromise. Even so, Julia expects continued volatility before any compromise is seen. She points out that t...

On July 6, the US imposed a 25% import tariff on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods. China has since retaliated, and accused the US of igniting ‘the largest trade war in economic history’. Stephen comments on how trade tensions are affecting market sentiment, versus the economic fundamentals of the world's two largest economies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

Tomorrow is "the day" for the start-date of tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports to the US. Have markets have priced this in already or will there be more fireworks in the markets when the tariffs actually hit? Vishnu weighs in. We also discuss emerging markets portfolio outflows accelerating -- will this trend continue? Vishnu also thinks Malaysia is a "buying opportunity" and the Ringgit is...

Following the arrest of former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Redza provides an overview of Malaysia's economic fundamentals while highlighting specific opportunities in domestic equities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 How will markets react to the arrest of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak? Phua Lee Kerk outlines the domestic and global factors that are currently weighing on investors mind. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now is the time to step up and buy emerging markets (EMs), says Joe Quinlan. He sees the second half of the year an opportunity to buy EMs that includes Malaysia. Joe also talks about how the trade tensions has overshadowed news on good corporate earnings in the US. He also reminds investors not to forget about US tax reforms. We also discuss how much attention should investors be giving to the sp...

This Friday (July 6) is the start-date for tariffs on USD$34 billion of Chinese imports to the US. What’s the market expectation there? He says the market right now is heavily focused on potential fallout from the trade war. We also ask if he expects the gloom in the 1H2018 to extend into the 2H2018. Kingsley reckons we are in a bit of a "cyclical slowdown". We also discuss key macro data to...