Category Archives: Market Insights

President Xi Jinping’s effort to stimulate China’s economy through increased consumer spending is facing a new challenge as citizens misuse cheap consumer loans. Borrowers are using low-interest loans to prepay mortgages or invest in stocks, instead of buying goods as intended. This practice, which is prohibited by regulators, threatens to undermine Beijing’s plan to fosterContinue Reading

On Tuesday, February 14, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures were released, showing an increase of 0.5% in January and the highest in three months but in-line with expectations. The year-on-year increase, meanwhile, is 6.4%, up slightly from market forecasts of 6.2%. Meanwhile, the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices,  increasedContinue Reading

Hedge funds and distressed debt specialists are buying bonds related to Gautam Adani’s business empire, a potential sign of encouragement after a recent short-seller report. Oaktree Capital Management and Davidson Kempner Capital Management are among the firms buying the debt, which suggests that a rout in Adani’s securities may be easing after some of itsContinue Reading

On Wednesday, the U.S Energy Information Administration reported an increase in crude inventories by 2.42 million barrels, close to the market expectations of 2.46 millions barrels. This is the third consecutive crude inventory build, coming after an outsized 4.14 million last week. This makes it a rough 4% above the 5-year average for this timeContinue Reading

Amazon’s advertising business continues to thrive, growing 19% YoY in Q4 2022 to $11.6 billion in sales, despite a slowdown in the digital advertising market that has affected other companies like Alphabet, Facebook, and Snap. While Amazon’s advertising unit is still a small portion of the company’s overall revenue, it is seen as a fast-growingContinue Reading

On Wednesday, the U.S Federal Reserve released its monetary policy decision for February 2023, raising the benchmark interest rate by 25 points at the conclusion of the FOMC meeting, as widely expected by the markets. This brings the target range of 4.5% to 4.75%, making it the highest since October 2007. This also marks theContinue Reading

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has published a 413-page rebuttal against Hindenburg, which has recently published a report covering extensive allegations, including stock manipulation and accounting fraud, about Adani’s multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. In response, Adani has accused Hindenburg Research of conducting a “calculated securities fraud”, and an attack on India. Adani is now considering legal action againstContinue Reading

A lower-than-expected build in crude oil inventories has seen the commodity trade flat as demand concerns hit the markets. On Wednesday evening, the EIA Crude Oil Inventories was released, showing a build of 522,000 barrels, putting the total inventory at 448.5 million. This is much lower than the forecasted increase of 971,000 barrels and theContinue Reading

On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan left its ultra-easing policy unchanged, sparking heavy speculation that it could be prompting the monetary policy divergence between the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Federal Reserve while defying market expectations it would phase out its massive stimulus program.   In the face of uncertainties worldwide, the Bank of JapanContinue Reading

Starting Sunday, China no longer requires quarantine for inbound travellers. No more testing requirements to board trains, planes, ferries or shuttle buses for domestic travel. While anyone wanting to enter the country will only need a 48-hour negative Covid test result. Officials estimate that the number of trips over the Chinese New Year holiday periodContinue Reading