Weekly market Summary

💡1. Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing banks, said its profit more than doubled in the second quarter as it joined larger crosstown rival HSBC in restoring its interim dividend to shareholders and said it would buy back an additional US$250 million in shares. The London-based bank and other United Kingdom lenders suspended their dividends last year at the request of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), an arm of the Bank of England, to make sure they had enough capital on hand to support the economy in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

💡2. The IMF has agreed to boost the finances of low and middle-income countries to support their pandemic response through a $650bn allocation of its special drawing rights. The allocation, which is a form of foreign reserve asset, is the equivalent of newly minted money that will be given to the fund’s 190 member countries roughly in proportion to their share of the global economy. About $275bn of the allocation will go to emerging and developing countries, with the rest earmarked for the world’s biggest economies. The announcement came at a critical juncture for developing economies. 

💡3. Hong Kong’s overall property transactions are expected to take a breather this month after rising to a 26-month high in July, close to levels seen before the city’s anti-government protests broke out in June 2019, thanks to a recovery in the economy and the coronavirus pandemic stabilising locally. The overall number of transactions, including residential, commercial and industrial properties, as well as parking spaces, rose to 9,957 deals in July, approaching a high of 10,353 deals in May 2019, according to the Land Registry. The value of transactions also stretched a five-month rally to a three-year high of HK$94 billion (US$12.09 billion).

💡4. Hong Kong stocks rose for a second day as mainland Chinese funds stepped up their purchases after concerns about regulatory tightening in the tech sector subsided. The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.2 per cent to 26,483.60 as of 11.42am, adding to a 0.9 per cent gain on Wednesday. Alibaba Group Holding and Meituan led the advance, each rising by at least 1 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2 per cent. A gauge of the implied volatility on the Hang Seng Index dropped to near a six-month low after surging to a 14-month high last week. 

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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?” 

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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.