Weekly Market Summary

💡1. Hong Kong stocks jumped by the most in three weeks from near a six-year low as oil and other commodity prices cooled while Russia and Ukraine pursued ceasefire plan. The Hang Seng Index gained 1.3 per cent to 20,890.26 at the close, posting the biggest gain since February 16. The Tech Index climbed 1 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.2 per cent. Markets in Asia-Pacific rallied, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced by 4 per cent. All but 17 of the 66 Hang Seng Index members gained. Crude oil tumbled 12 per cent overnight to near US$110 a barrel after the United Arab Emirates said that it will ask other OPEC members to overcome any shortage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while the US banned Russian oil imports. Gold also retreated from a 19-month high.

💡2. China to focus on increasing coal, oil and gas supply, while strengthening reserves and maintaining stable imports, says economic planner. “Since the beginning of this year, under the combined influence of multiple factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the monetary policy shift of major economies, and especially the escalation of geopolitical conflicts, the international commodity price situation has become more severe, complex and uncertain” says NDRC Director. To boost China’s energy reserves, he said the government would speed up construction of deployable coal reserve capacity to more than 200 million tonnes, add more than 5 billion cubic metres of gas storage and increase emergency backup electricity to more than 30 gigawatts.

💡3. The Hong Kong-based conglomerate reported an underlying profit of HK$5.3 billion (US$677 million), compared with a loss of HK$3.9 billion in 2020, according to a filing to SEHK on Thursday. Turnover rose 15 per cent to HK$92.4 billion. Its airline business under Cathay Pacific Airways on Wednesday trimmed losses to HK$5.5 billion. Meanwhile, real estate arm Swire Properties reported a 25 per cent decline in profit attributable to shareholders to HK$9.5 billion “due primarily to the reduction in profit from the sale of noncore assets in Hong Kong.” Recurring underlying profit was little changed at HK$7.2 billion. Swire Properties declared a second dividend for 2021 of HK$0.64 per share, bringing the full year total pay out to HK$0.95 per share.

💡4. Rich investors in Asia-Pacific will account for 37 per cent of the global investment among their peers by 2025, versus 27 per cent in 2020. By that year, they will contribute to 10 per cent of capital raised by private equity funds globally, the report said. Assets managed by rich individual investors in the private markets, which typically include equity in private companies, over-the-counter debt instruments and infrastructure and property holdings, are expected to more than double to US$1.2 trillion. Within Asia-Pacific, mainland China accounted for 60 per cent of the total investment in the private equity market by rich investors, according to the BCG and iCapital report.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1REJOqcPeQr1o9iUV0mZk0-IAas3EOuDb/view?usp=sharing

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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.