Reset with Lynlee

On The Afternoon Update, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Geoff Howie, Market Strategist from the SGX, for a market wrap of the view. We get insights on how the STI fared in the past week; the biggest movers; and some economic news that moved markets this week, including Singapore's headline inflation numbers and the Meeting Minutes from the US Fed. 

High loan repricing, global geopolitical tensions, and continuous high interest rates are all weighing on confidence. And as ASEAN banks face a cloudier economic outlook, more headwinds may be in store in the coming year.  On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Rena Kwok, Credit Analyst, Asian Financials, Bloomberg Intelligence to find out the 2024 outlook for ASEAN banks.

What seemed to be a normal week for markets changed to an extraordinary one last week after markets got the biggest across-the-board CPI miss in a year. And that gave traders the greenlight to declare that the US Fed’s fight against inflation was finally over. Market watchers moved to ratchet up the likelihood of a cut, with the prospect of a cut by March soaring.  So are we now done with rate hikes?  On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Laurent Lequeu, Head of Portfolio Management & Research at Lumen Capital Investors, to find out whether we can expect multiple rate cuts next year. 

The question that keeps coming up: Will there be a year-end Santa Claus rally? There is growing concern among market experts over the index's sustainability, despite its remarkable 9.6% gain in just three weeks. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Rajat Bhattacharya, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered, about the possible risks and whether or not investors should think about profiting from this incredible rally. Highlights: 01:07 - Will Wall Street indexes hit a fourth straight winning week? 02:43 - Why do market watchers believe the current rally in the S&P 500 as unsustainable? 03:43 - How should investors approach an unsustainable rally? 06:45 - Can more dovish surprises push more growth in equities? 07:42 - Will government bonds increase further?

Every year - over 430 million tonnes of plastic is produced globally. According to the UN - two-thirds of that are short-lived products that soon become waste. In fact, abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear is the deadliest form of marine plastic, threatening 66 per cent of marine animals. Earlier this year, Gopaal  Jeyaram Founder of Big Fins & Underwater Zombie - came face to face with ghost nets 60 meters underwater in Bali. Rachel Kelly speaks to Gopaal in this week's Eco Money to find out more.

Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Tesla had an astounding contribution of approximately US$4 trillion in market capitalization in 2023, outshining the whole MSCI index. But while tech stocks have played a huge role in pushing up Wall Street indexes most of this year, global stocks have seen a weak performance in recent months. Should we then still remain optimistic on global stocks as we approach the new year? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Zane Aw, Research Analyst at Phillip Securities Research, shares his insights and analysis on this.

A series of agreements were negotiated between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, to stabilize their relationship, which has been marked by economic rivalry and challenges in the diplomatic and military spheres. However, traders saw only modest progress in the strained ties. On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to John Cheng, Asia Stocks Reporter at Bloomberg, to find out how markets reacted to this much-anticipated meeting between the two leaders.

National climate action plans remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. That's according to the latest report from the UN. Even with increased efforts by some countries, the report shows much more action is needed now to bend the world’s emissions trajectory further downward and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Timely that in the same week - KPMG released its 2023 Net Zero Readiness Report. The report highlighted that Governments and industry must deliver transformative change on net zero but are currently hamstrung by significant barriers, including global public debt, domestic tensions, increased opposition to decarbonization plans, and the need to guarantee energy supply. Rachel Kelly speaks with Sharad Somani, Head of Infrastructure for KPMG Asia Pacific and Head of KPMG ESG at KPMG in Singapore.

Broadridge, one of the global fintech leaders, recently launched BondGPT which helps users simplify workflow and boost efficiency in the portfolio construction processes. What are the functionalities and goals of BondGPT? Is generative AI reshaping the finance industry? On Money in the Market, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Joseph Lo, Head of Enterprise Platforms at Broadridge, about BondGPT and how generative AI helps improve financial trading. 

The rise of AI in the payment industry offers various advantages in the payment industry. How has AI contributed to the payment industry's development? But other than artificial intelligence, what other trends are there in the payment industry? On What's Trending, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Judith Loh, Head of Strategic Sales at Worldpay, about the transformative trends in the payment industry.