In today’s briefing:
- Japan Weekly | Japan Rally – Toyota, ASICS, Nikon
- Only Half of Chinese Insurers Made Money Abroad Last Year
- Major Philippines’ Telco Banks On Rapid Digital Services Uptake, CEO Says
- NeoCon/Design Days : Office Manufacturers Display Wares Amid Macro Uncertainty
- Short Note: US Rate Pause, China Stimulus, and the HK Rebound
Japan Weekly | Japan Rally – Toyota, ASICS, Nikon
- The stars are aligned for a rally in the Japanese equity markets – Earnings, Activism, and Capital Allocation.
- We highlight some of the stocks that moved the market this week – Toyota excited the market with promises of Solid State battery production
- Shareholders continue to test Japanese management with a barrage of proposals
Only Half of Chinese Insurers Made Money Abroad Last Year
- Chinese insurance companies’ overseas investments remained flat in 2022, and only half of them made profits on the investments, a recent survey showed.
- Foreign investments in 2022 by Chinese insurers totaled $83.2 billion, about the same as in 2021. The funds were invested mostly in Hong Kong and the U.S., according to the survey of 52 Chinese insurance companies.
- The average return on investments was 1.32%, with a median of 0.22%. Returns were lower than insurers’ returns of 3.76% on total investments at home and abroad. About 54% of the insurers made money on the investments, down 19 percentage points from 2021, the survey showed.
Major Philippines’ Telco Banks On Rapid Digital Services Uptake, CEO Says
- Philippine telecommunications conglomerate Globe Telecom Inc. is ramping up expansion of its e-wallet unit and online medical business by capitalizing on the widespread adoption of digital services in the Southeast Asian nation, the firm’s chief executive told Caixin.
- The uptake of digital services for transactions surged during the Covid-19 pandemic — especially in the fintech, medical, and healthcare sectors.
- The trend has continued even after the Philippines relaxed virus controls, Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu said in an interview on the sidelines of the Asia New Vision Forum in Singapore Monday
NeoCon/Design Days : Office Manufacturers Display Wares Amid Macro Uncertainty
- Office furniture manufacturers assembled in Chicago this week for an annual trade show.
- NeoCon®, the legacy name of the show, is a registered trademark of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc
- It pertains only to Mart tenants. Several major players moved away from the Mart to Fulton Market and renamed their show Design Days.
Short Note: US Rate Pause, China Stimulus, and the HK Rebound
- The US paused the rate hike, but delivered a hawkish surprise to the market that showed a median projection of 2 additional rate hikes instead of one
- In China, PBoC cut 7 day repo rate for 10bps, and then cut MLF by also 10bps from 2.75% to 2.65%
- Stock market is always looking forward and trades on expectations of the fundamentals; BUY Chinese names COLI 688 HK, HLP 101 HK, and HK name NWD 17 HK
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