The Afternoon Update with Lynlee Foo

US stocks closed out on a dizzying week at record highs last week, but to start the new week, shares took a breather as investors braced for a looming inflation update that could put that rally to the test. New inflation data in the coming days will test the staying power of the breakout rally that followed Nvidia's results. So what can we expect from Thursday’s PCE index reading? When can we expect rate cuts? Will there be further room for upside in US equities? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Audrey Goh, Head of Asset Allocation and Thematic Strategy, Standard Chartered, to find out more. 

India's stock market has hit all-time highs, continuing its record-breaking rallies throughout the end of last year. And this may be the latest sign that global investors should not overlook the significant long-term investment opportunity the country offers. So how should investors tap into this market? Should investors focus on sectors? How can sector investing aid diversification when constructing global portfolios? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Rohit Gupta, Vice President, MSCI Markets and Investment Insights, to find out more.  Highlights: 1. What makes Indian equities so attractive at the moment, and why should investors seek opportunities in this market?- 1:12 2. What kind of options do investors have when seeking exposure to India’s equity market? - 2:49 3. Could you tell us more about sector investing and what opportunities does it offer? - 4:31 4. How can an awareness of individual markets’ sector exposures aid diversification of one’s portfolio?- 6:34 5. What sectors could continue to outperform this year given their performance so far since the start of 2024? What should investors keep an eye on?- 13:00

Security and sustainability go hand in hand for business and the nation. This was highlighted in two key sustainability areas of this year’s Singapore National Budget which rolls out the first instalment of the Forward Singapore programmes. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivered his third annual Budget speech in Parliament on February 16th - he highlighted that for firms to be competitive, they also need to embrace sustainability. Rachel Kelly takes a closer look at the sustainability elements of Budget 2024.

On What's Trending, China's Luckin Coffee is feeling lucky as it surpasses rival Starbucks in sales. On the other hand, Kellogg's CEO suggests eating cereal for dinner as a cost-cutting alternative, but faces backlash from netizens. 

Later tonight, the Dow Jones Industrial will have a new look. Instead of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Amazon.com will be part of the index. This comes as Walmart conducts a 3-to-1 stock split, cutting its stock weighting in the index. So what does that mean for the Dow Jones index and Amazon.com? Why was Amazon selected? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Abhishek Vishnoi, Senior Reporter for Equities at Bloomberg, to find out more. 

On What’s Trending, find out why the viral ke mu san dance is getting boycotted in Taiwan. And adding onto the viral list is the chocolate-covered strawberry video and understanding its sudden boom.

Earnings results are still underway. This week, we saw Singapore Airlines post their results. And while it achieved a record operating and net profit for the first nine months, the carrier saw a mixed financial result for Q3. Investors were not pleased. Shares of SIA tumbled as much as 9.4 per cent during early trading after the announcement, despite hitting a six-month high the day prior. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Isaac Lim, Market Strategist of Moomoo Financial Singapore, to find out more about the results and whether SIA is a good stock to buy.

Earnings season is well underway here in Singapore. UOB delivered robust profits in 2023 and increased its final dividend payout for the year, but investors weren’t pleased. Shares of UOB tumbled after the announcement. Singapore Airlines and Genting Singapore also missed earnings estimates. But iFast Corp was a brightspot with its Q4 net profit surging more than 900%. On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Dan Chang C S, Trading Rep, Phillip Securities, to find out more about the latest earnings results as well as how the STI fared in the past week on Market View’s Market Wrap of the Week. 

On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong is joined by Sean Cheong on the Financial Hit to discuss the recent deal Elon Musk’s X has recently announced with World Wrestling Entertainment that could change how fans watch sports. Like other recent sports media deals, X and WWE’s tie-up will be streamed. What will this mean for X? What about for Live television? On a separate note, a ticket to a sports game saw a 40,700 percent profit due to this one particular person and his shocking annoucement... 

The crypto space ended 2023 on a high, and the stellar rally has continued into this year, with Bitcoin more than tripling to $52,000 since November 2022. Investors have returned to the market in recent weeks, pushing the asset market capitalization above $1 trillion for the first time since 2021. So it’s all high and boom for Bitcoin and the crypto market in the year ahead? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Lasanka Perera, CEO, Independent Reserve Singapore, to find out more.