Stocks bond news

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,322.64 points on Wednesday, down 45.35 points, or 1.91 percent, from the previous trading day. [YONHAP] Stocks plunged by almost 2 percent Thursday to slump for a second straight session amid recession woes and a dim outlook for the chipmaking sector. The won rose against the dollar. The Kospi retreated 45.35 points, or 1.91 percent, to close at 2,332.64 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 506 million shares worth some 8.7 trillion won ($6.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 699 to 183. Institutional investors offloaded a net 321 billion won, and foreigners sold 234 billion won, while retail investors bought 521 billion won. Investors remained cautious after a near 2 percent fall on Wednesday, spooked by soaring inflation and weak economic sentiment data in the United States. Overnight, the central bank chiefs of major economies warned that the world's high inflation … [Read more...] about Stocks fall almost 2% for second straight session

PETALING JAYA: Foreign flows into the local bond market returned to positive territory in May amid foreign investors’ flight-to-safety demand and Bank Negara’s hawkish pivot. Nevertheless, the magnitude was only a meager RM531mil, which did not completely offset the relative net foreign outflows of RM2.2bil in April. Total cumulative foreign holdings in the local bond market grew to RM911.1mil for the first five months of 2022, following the net foreign inflows. Notwithstanding this, they were significantly lower than the cumulative net foreign inflows of RM25bil from January to May 2021, according to MARC Ratings Bhd. Total Malaysian Government Securities/Government Investment Issues (MGS and GII) outstanding expanded by 11.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM947.3bil in May 2022 as there was no redemption of government bonds recorded. This is notwithstanding the reduced issuances in both the MGS (May: RM4.5bil; April: RM10bil) and GII (May: RM8bil; April: RM9.5bil) segments during … [Read more...] about Foreign flows into local bond market returns to positive territory

The good news is that yields in US Treasury securities may be near their peak. The bad news is that makes the recession I’ve been forecasting since February more likely. The current campaign by the US Federal Reserve to raise its main policy interest rate — the overnight federal funds rate — in response to rapid inflation normally precipitates a business downturn. Since the central bank adopted this measure in 1954, there have been 11 recessions, and only three exceptions, or soft landings — in 1966, 1984 and 1996. A soft landing occurs as the central bank lowers the funds rate after a series of increases with no recession unfolding. Until the Fed cuts rates, it’s uncertain as to whether its credit-tightening campaign is over or has merely paused. My analysis of post-World War II history reveals that a 100-basis-point rise in the funds rate is linked to a 36-basis-point rise in the 10-year Treasury note yield, and a 24-basis-point increase in the 30-year Treasury bond yield. … [Read more...] about Bond market rally signals an impending economic recession

The board of state-run Bank of Baroda (BoB) has approved raising up to Rs 5,000 crore through bonds in financial year 2022-23, a regulatory filing stated on June 27. The targeted amount would be raised in single or multiple tranches, the bank said, adding that it would be used for financing "infrastructure and affordable housing". "Board of Directors in their meeting held today has approved the proposal of raising of long term bonds for financing of infrastructure & affordable housing to the tune of Rs 5,000 crores in single or multiple tranches during financial year 2022-23," it informed the stock exchanges. "These bonds shall be senior, unsecured and will not form part of capital of the bank", the lender further noted. The shares of BoB closed at Rs 100 a piece at the NSE today, up 0.05 percent as compared to the previous day's close. Close The announcement of raising Rs 5,000 crore in FY23 comes days after the bank released its financial results for … [Read more...] about Bank of Baroda board approves raising up to Rs 5,000 crore in FY23

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) has launched the sustainable and responsible investment-linked (SRI-linked) Sukuk Framework to facilitate fundraising by companies in addressing sustainability concerns. The regulator said with the accelerated shift towards developing a climate-resilient future, high-emitting industries are at a high risk of being phased out. “The SRI-linked sukuk will enable companies in these as well as other industries to transition into a low-carbon or net zero economy. “As at Dec 31, 2021, the global sustainable bonds outstanding exceeded US$1 trillion with sustainability-linked bonds making up US$118.8bil,” it said in a statement. It added that the framework was an extension of the initiatives under the SRI Roadmap that was introduced in 2019 to broaden SRI products offerings. More significantly, this initiative reflects the SC’s commitment to expand the reach of the Islamic Capital Market (ICM) to the broader stakeholders of the economy and … [Read more...] about SC launches SRI-linked Sukuk Framework

- A + A LONDON (June 30): Investors knew that, after two years of COVID-19 chaos, 2022 would be a bumpy ride, but nobody expected this - the most turbulent first half global markets have ever seen. To grasp just how torrid things have been, consider two things. MSCI's 47-country world stocks index has suffered its biggest 1H drop since its creation in 1990. At same time, 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds - the benchmark of global borrowing markets and traditional go-to asset in troubled times - have had their worst first half since 1788. Why? Russia's invasion of Ukraine supercharged what was already fast-rising inflation, forcing the big central banks to jack up interest rates and politicians to warn of new world orders. The result? A $13 trillion wipeout in world stocks, a 15.5% plunge Japan's yen, Italy's worst rout since the euro zone crisis, and what is shaping up to be the strongest commodities rally since World War I. Add to that Russia being gouged out the … [Read more...] about Markets in 1H: The almost perfect storm

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 20, 2022 - June 26, 2022. - A + A ALL eyes are on RHB Banking Group’s newly minted group managing director (MD) and group CEO Mohd Rashid Mohamad as he steers the fourth-largest banking group by assets forward in a tough operating landscape. “It’s very challenging, especially now in a fast-changing market environment, and as we face potential risks such as geopolitical and inflationary,” acknowledges Rashid in his first exclusive interview as group MD/CEO. Competition has intensified, given new entrants into the market, which are not just new banks but also technology companies that compete for the same pie. Rashid adds that this has partly affected the profitability of the industry, along with many other factors. He notes that banks globally no longer see “high ROEs” as before. For RHB Bank Bhd, its return on equity (ROE) in the past 10 financial years hit a high of 13.4% in FY2012 before … [Read more...] about Cover Story: RHB’s Game Plan in ‘fast-changing’ new normal

- A + A (June 30): It was an unusually frigid December weekend when Cheng Wei summoned his inner circle to his Beijing office. The founder of Didi Global Inc, dressed entirely in black, told his lieutenants to slash spending by a fifth in 2022 and begin layoffs after staff return from Lunar New Year vacations. He delivered his bombshell flanked by a giant Powerpoint slide that read: “Don’t live with illusions. Face reality.” “We had a tough year,” said the reserved billionaire known as Will, who that day seemed even gloomier than normal, according to people briefed on the gathering. “But next year will be even tougher.” That sombre gathering encapsulated what many in the room already suspected — the ride-hailing champion once feted for running Uber Technologies Inc out of China was no more. In its place was a defeated shell worth a fifth of its value at the peak, bleeding users, blocked from raising funds for cherished projects — and whose executives were constantly … [Read more...] about Inside Didi’s US$60b crash that changed China tech forever

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): Bursa Malaysia erased gains made earlier on Thursday (June 30) to end at its intraday low following heavy selling in the last 10 minutes of trading, an analyst said. At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 0.5%, or 7.26 points, to finish at 1,444.22 from Wednesday's close of 1,451.48. The benchmark index, which opened 4.02 points better at 1,455.5, moved between 1,444.22 and 1,460.3 throughout the day. Overall market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 520 to 327, while 396 counters were unchanged, 1,039 untraded, and 65 others suspended. Total turnover narrowed to 2.26 billion units worth RM1.97 billion from 2.37 billion units valued at RM1.77 billion on Wednesday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regionally, key indices also finished broadly lower following negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo declined after Japan’s May … [Read more...] about Bursa ends at day’s low on heavy last-minute selling