💡1. The Bank of East Asia (BEA), Hong Kong’s largest independent and family-run lender, said its half-year profit soared 75 per cent as it benefited from declining impairment costs for soured loans in mainland China and in Hong Kong. The banking group, whose business is primarily focused on Hong Kong and mainland China, said it was “cautiously optimistic” about the pace of the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. It reported a profit of HK$2.67 billion (US$343 million) for the first six months of 2021, up from HK$1.53 billion in the same period a year earlier.

💡2. UK inflation slowed more than expected in July as price growth for clothing, footwear and recreational goods eased, but it was forecast to pick up again over the rest of the year. The price of consumer goods and services rose at an annual rate of 2 per cent in July, slower than 2.5 per cent in the previous month, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. The slowdown was marginally stronger than the dip to 2.1 per cent forecast by the Bank of England and sharper than the decline to 2.3 per cent expected by economists polled by Reuters.

💡3. More mainland Chinese landlords are likely to enter Hong Kong’s flexible working space, traditionally dominated by local and international investors, as it offers a low-risk entry point to the broader office market, according to analysts. Hui Wing-mau, the chairman of Shanghai-based Shimao Property Holdings, has become the latest to debut his new co-working space in the world’s most expensive office building, The Center, in the city’s Central district. Hui, one of the wealthiest tycoons in mainland China, opened The Center Space, a 23,600 square-foot co-working area on the 76th floor of the landmark skyscraper, last week.

💡4. Hong Kong and mainland China stocks rebounded from their biggest slide in three weeks as investors rotated into defensive stocks such as the solar and property sectors while technology giants struggled with regulatory challenges. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 per cent to 25,867.01, halting a four-day slump. China’s Shanghai Composite and CSI 300 of the biggest stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen both surged more than 1.1 per cent. 

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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.