Weekly Market Summary

💡1. JPMorgan Chase’s quarterly profit more than doubled but revenues fell as lower interest rates, lacklustre loan demand and a slowdown in trading activity from the height of the pandemic took a toll. The bank’s overall revenue fell 8 per cent from the second quarter of 2020 to $30.4bn while profit rose from $4.7bn last year to $11.9bn, as the release of billions of dollars set aside to cover potential loan losses offset the trading slowdown. Deposits continued to flood into the bank, rising 23 per cent on average, while its loan book remained stagnant at $1tn. Loans rose slightly in the final weeks of the quarter as credit card spending normalised, but “unusally high” payment rates could prevent the bank from earning interest on those balances, the bank said.

💡2. China’s first-quarter economic surge was primarily a reflection of how hard the world’s second-largest economy was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic early last year, rather than the strength of its recovery. While gross domestic product grew more than 18 per cent year on year between January and March, its increase over the final quarter of 2020 was just 0.6 per cent. China is expected to post a year-on-year headline number of about 8 per cent when the National Bureau of Statistics reveals its estimate for second-quarter growth. 

💡3. Blackstone has agreed to buy a $5.1bn portfolio of rent-controlled apartments geared towards low-income families in its second big bet on the US housing market in less than a month. The deal covers 678 “affordable housing communities” in cities including Boston, San Francisco and Seattle, according to a person familiar with the terms. All of the developments have received tax credits from the US government in exchange for agreeing to stringent restrictions on rent and occupancy that are intended to make it easier for people on low incomes to find homes.

💡4. Hong Kong stocks rose as technology companies staged the biggest rebound in two weeks after a government report showed China’s export growth exceeded market expectations while US equities reached record highs. HSBC jumped on dividend speculation. The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.6 per cent to 27,963.41 at the close, adding to a 0.6 per cent advance on Monday after the People’s Bank of China cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks by 50 basis points. 

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One of the must-ask interview questions for banking and finance is: “Have you read any news recently?”, with the follow-up questions: “How would you link this news to the market and what investment suggestions would you give to your clients based on this news?”. 

Showing your market sense and ability to provide feasible investment ideas would help to differentiate you from other candidates. Therefore, apart from the weekly news update / investment insights, we have also generated this Weekly Market Summary for you to have a quick understanding of the market development and tips to answer some hot discussion topics. Take a look of the summary and WhatsApp us in the group if you have questions.