Weekly Market Summary

💡1. EY will invest about $2bn over the next three years to improve the quality of its audits following scandals including the collapse of German payments group Wire card in a high-profile fraud last year. The sum will be part of a record $10bn investment plan unveiled by the accounting firm on Wednesday that will fund initiatives including staff training and improving its ability to detect fraud. Along with its rivals, EY has come under pressure to invest in its business to strengthen audit processes.

💡2. A year ago, while emerging markets grappled with whether they could afford to lock down their economies, richer governments side-stepped the dilemma by doling out giant fiscal support packages. Today, a big question the developing world faces is whether to raise interest rates to curb inflation — another problem that western central bankers have so far been able to delay. More so than in the west, rising prices already pose a threat to the economic stability of emerging markets. One reason for that is the rapid increase in global food prices, which are now near their highest level in a decade, according to a closely watched UN index

💡3. Hong Kong’s government said buyers of an unfinished residential complex in Ho Man Tin can terminate their contracts and be entitled to refunds with interest, as local authorities step in to prevent the city’s first half-done project in decades from hurting consumers. Customers of the Grand Homm project are entitled to their refunds, including interest, within seven days of the cancellation of their sales agreements, according to a statement by the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority (SRPA).

💡4. Hong Kong stocks fell by the most in three weeks as concerns about regulatory tightening in China revived after Beijing chastised mobile games developers and probed a major stockbroker for market violations. The Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.6 per cent to 25,898.67 at the local noon break, the most since August 20. The city’s tech benchmark sank 3.2 per cent, the most since July 27. The Shanghai Composite Index declined about 0.1 per cent to 3,678.59, while tech-heavy ChiNext stocks slid 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.