In today’s briefing:
- Ohayo Japan | Golden Week but No Holiday for Yen
- Indian IT Services: Where Are We in the Growth Cycle?
- USDJPY Breaking 34-Year High: Are We Seeing Another Asia Financial Crisis? What Will Come Next?
- “There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills” – Value in the Diversified Mining Sector
- Indian Life Insurance Primer – April 2024 Update (FY24)
- Furniture/Furnishings Weekly – Weak Bedding, Furniture Demand
- The Highlights – Cannabis News for the Week Ending April 26, 2024
Ohayo Japan | Golden Week but No Holiday for Yen
- The Japanese yen saw significant volatility, briefly falling below 160 against the U.S. dollar on Monday morning, marking a fresh 34-year low, then rebounding to 156.40
- U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management has reportedly acquired a stake in Sumitomo Corp. valued at tens of billions of yen, potentially signaling an activist shareholder push
- Shares in Tesla surged over 15% on news of partnership with Baidu paving way for offering self-driving in China
Indian IT Services: Where Are We in the Growth Cycle?
- Fiscal 4Q 2024 results have shown the first signs of a bottoming in y/y constant currency revenue growth rates, leading to expectations for accelerating growth rates over the medium term.
- We have witnessed a steady long-term negative trend in operating margins for most of the industry.
- Forward PE ratios are at, or above, long-term historic average trading levels. We find very little upside for these shares whilst maintaining a relative preference for Infosys Ltd (INFO IN).
USDJPY Breaking 34-Year High: Are We Seeing Another Asia Financial Crisis? What Will Come Next?
- We are at an unprecedented moment in history where USDJPY is breaking 34-year high. At the same time, all Asia EM currencies (except CNY) are seeing strong depreciation pressure
- What’s happening behind the scene? We look at the underlying reasons and SHORT trades. The implication is huge and we need to assess what will happen
- Depending on what Central Banks will do (intervention?), we try to access if there is risk of another Asia Financial Crisis. We look at potential trades to bet on
“There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills” – Value in the Diversified Mining Sector
- BHP’s bid for Anglo American highlights the value currently in the mining sector
- Chinese material stocks outperforming and the world is following suit
- Speculative buying exhaustion may prompt a correction in copper and provide a good entry point.
Indian Life Insurance Primer – April 2024 Update (FY24)
- We discuss the recent developments and financial performance of Indian Life Insurers note in this Primer
- The big news this quarter is that a significant regulatory risk has passed on without any dent. This has turned the outlook on the sector more positive.
- Expect a secular low-mid double-digit premium growth for the Neutral on HDFCLIFE IN Short on IPRU IN and LICI IN
Furniture/Furnishings Weekly – Weak Bedding, Furniture Demand
- Residential furniture and home goods retailer issues performed well last week versus the market, while the Commercial/Contract Furniture stocks, by and large, tread water.
- Our Residential Manufacturers & Suppliers index advanced 3.2%, outperforming the broader market indexes (up between 1.6 to 1.8%), while our Home Goods Retailers and Mass Retailers indexes each grew by 0.7%.
- Only our Commercial/Contract Furniture Index lagged, down 0.3%.
The Highlights – Cannabis News for the Week Ending April 26, 2024
- It was another quiet week across cannabis. The US cannabis MSOS ETF returned 0.23%, while the global YOLO ETF dropped 0.26%.
- While the plant and support for federal reform have never been more popular, real progress continues to be held hostage by politicians.
- While there are reasons to think reform could be imminent, soon, or in the days ahead, investors are becoming impatient with empty promises.
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