Market Watch

With markets taking a breather as all eyes will be on Jerome Powell's speech later today, we ask Jack Kouzi, Director for Strategy at VFS Group on the ideal asset allocation strategy. We also dive into the Chinese equity markets and what will be driving performance, or lack of it. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The rising protests against Covid restrictions in China caused Chinese and Hong Kong stocks to plummet. How are global financial markets likely to react to these events given China is still one of the largest economies in the world. Will this see more inflows to US Equities? We speak to Joe Quinlan, Chief Market Strategist, US Trust-BOA Private Wealth Management. Image credit: Shutterstock See omn...

The market responded positively with the recent formation of a new federal government starring PH-BN that is led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, with the FBM KLCI rallying by more than 4% at breaking the 1500 psychological barrier yesterday. Even so, there is much to do for the new Prime Minister and government, with among their priorities including appointing a fully functioning cabinet and tabling...

A global recession might be on the horizon but is Singapore a safe haven market? Paul Chew, Head of Research, Phillip Securities, a member of Phillip Capital explores this perspective and what should be the top picks for that very open economy. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The released Fed minutes show that most officials are backing a slower pace of interest rate hikes. Markets reacted positively but this is false optimism as the terminal Fed Funds Rate may eventually be higher. The 3Q reporting in the US is also coming to a close and 75% of corporates experienced downgrade in earnings. Have the cut in earnings by analysts been adequate or will there be further dow...

The Chinese government has been instituting policies to revive the economy with the property market being the first beneficiary. Now, Chinese banks were told to step up credit support for the economy, including expanding medium to long-term loans to support infrastructure investments. Will this only be a short term measure to stem the likely growth in the economy with still lockdowns happening in...

2022 has been one of the worst years for both equity and bond markets, with the MSCI World Index down 18% year-to-date.  Patrick Chang, Chief Investment Officer, Equities at Principal Southeast Asia tells us if 2023 will be a better year and what should be the ideal asset allocation as markets will still be volatile. This Market Outlook is brought to you by Principal Asset Management. See omn...

US markets are headed for a shorter trading week due to the Thanksgiving holidays, with major indices locked in a trading range. But what are the data points we should pay attention to for direction? Joe Quinlan, Chief Market Strategist at US Trust-BOA Private Wealth Management answers that question whilst weighing in on his expectations of the retail sector on the back of Black Friday sales. Imag...

The outlook for the FBM KLCI is looking uncertain. But there will be more clarity once a new government is formed when leaders meet the YDPA. In a possible PN led government, the differentiating factor is PAS which has the largest number of seats in parliament at 49. How will this be viewed by investors in terms of policy making and representation in various Ministries? For insights, we speak to A...

With a global recession on the cards, what is the optimum geographical and asset allocation? Kingsley Jones, Chief Investment Officer, Jevons Global points us in the right direction that includes non-USD assets and sectors like luxury goods and certain metals. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New jobless data came in below forecast with the labour market showing strength while retail sales were increasing at the fastest pace in 8 months. Does this mean that Fed Fund peak rate is still a long way off and will it peak at 5%? Separately, on cryptos - what does the collapse of FTX hold for listed Crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase and cryptocurrencies as a whole? For insights we sp...

While we seem to be at crossroads with softer US CPI and PPI data, retail sales figures have been still rather robust. This has fuelled a market rally in November while the USD continues to weaken with the Bloomberg dollar spot index only up 8.5% from 15%. This may persist as long as the equity market continues to be risk on. Over in China, consumer spending contracted in October, its first declin...

The S&P 500 rose 8% over the past month. Is risk on sentiment returning to equities in a big way, or is it just another bear market rally? While October inflation data came in lower than expected, there are early signs that inflation may have reached a peak. China/HK stocks have also been on a tear and are technically in bull market territory. We speak to Jack Kouzi, Director for Strategy, VFS...

With US markets taking a dip on the back of comments by Fed Officials that the inflation target of 2% remains a priority, what does this mean for monetary policy in the US? Joe Quinlan, Chief Market Strategist of US Trust-BOA Private Wealth Management tells us his views whilst weighing in on Malaysia's potential in the technology space. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Markets have reacted positively to the lower inflation print in October. But is this sustainable given its just one data point and inflation is still a far cry from the Fed's target of 2%. Does this also mean that the USD has peaked and investors should also be looking at other Asian currencies? For answers, we speak to Clifford Bennett, Chief Economist, ACY Securities. Image credit: Shutterstock...

The US released better than expected inflation figures of 7.7% thus causing markets to rally but is this sustainable? Brian Arcese, Portfolio Manager & Equity Analyst of Foord Asset Management answers that question. We also ponder if the new headwind is the earnings compression and if that has been priced in yet. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Crypto market is going into free fall with the impending collapse of the exchange FTX. What reverberations does this have on the wider financial market? Tony Nash, CEO of Complete Intelligence tells us whilst giving us his views on the next set of US inflation figures. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The S&P 500 is still closing at session highs despite the uncertainty over midterm elections and Fed pronouncements. Is this a sign that momentum is turning bullish? This is expected to also lift Asian equities. Should investors focus more on Asia given the strong current account surpluses and export oriented nature of most Asian countries? For insights, we speak to Paul Chew, Head of Research...

Will the outcome of the US midterm elections change the direction of economic policy and markets? Joe Quinlan, Chief Market Strategist at US Trust-BOA Private Wealth Management tells us his views whilst weighing in on inflation data due out later this week. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With global leaders in Egypt for COP27, we turn our attention to ESG investments and ask Kingsley Jones, Chief Investment Officer, at Jevons Global as to what opportunities exist and are there less obvious choices? Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With US midterms round the corner, we ask Tim Mulholland, President of TJM Limited what would be the impact of the Democrats losing both houses to the Republicans on the market. We also dive into the impact of the rising Fed fund rate on the bond market. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fed raised rates by 75 bps as expected but what was a surprise was that they may reduce the quantum of the hikes but that rates may go higher than earlier projected. We ask Vishnu Varathan, Head of Economics & Strategy at Mizuho Bank why they have taken this approach and when will rates peak? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Market took a dip on the back of robust job data which suggest that the Federal Reserve will continue with its hawkish stance. We ask Walter Todd, President and Chief Investment Officer at Greenwood Capital if the pace of aggressive rate hikes will continue and if it's time to look at the bashed down sectors like consumer discretionary and technology.   Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystud...

It is almost a given that the Fed will raise interest rates by 75bp this week. But will the rate of increases taper off from here, as there appears to be signs of inflation abating, money supply growth easing and unemployment inching up. However, the pace of increases may not taper off so soon for UK and Europe, as the inflation there is still high. For insights, we speak to Joe Quinlan, Chief Mar...

Asean markets have moved divergently with Indonesia being the best performing on a year to date basis. We ask Terence Chua, Senior Research Analyst at Philip Securities as to which markets will perform best in 2023 whilst taking a look at the recent Singapore bank results. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.