Chips, yen wobbles and a gold bull call: where Standard Chartered sees Asia markets heading

A softer US jobs report eased rate hike fears and sent the Dow to a record closing high, but chipmaker stocks fell sharply again and Asian markets opened mixed. Gold is having its worst quarter in 13 years. Oil is at a four-month low. And the yen just hit a 40-year low before surging on intervention fears. It has been that kind of week.

In this episode of Market Focus Weekly, a podcast from The Business Times, Howie Lim speaks with Yap Fook Hien, senior investment strategist at Standard Chartered Bank, for a clear-eyed walk through Asia’s most pressing market questions right now.

Why listen

• Korea: cheap but complicated Korea has been one of the best performing markets year to date, yet its PE has fallen below 6.5 times against a long-term average of nearly 10 times, driven by more than 300 per cent earnings growth this year. Yap explains why memory chip pricing rather than volume is doing the heavy lifting and what a soft landing for chip prices actually means for investors still holding Korean equities.

• Japan: yen, intervention and what it means for your portfolio The yen hit a 40-year low before surging as traders braced for possible intervention. Yap walks through the intervention trigger levels authorities appear to be watching, why Standard Chartered still views Japan as a core equity holding, and why being unhedged on yen exposure could be a positive tailwind over a 12-month view.

• China: waiting for the catalyst Strong Q1 GDP was followed by negative fiscal spending in April and Chinese equities have been turning weaker since June. Yap explains what it will take to restore investor confidence and why the upcoming earnings season is the next key test.

• Indonesia: the MSCI question nobody wants to answer Down 35 per cent year to date and facing a potential downgrade to frontier market status. Yap walks through the Pakistan precedent and what it could mean if MSCI follows through.

• Gold: Standard Chartered’s 12-month target is US$5,100 Despite its worst quarter in 13 years, Yap makes the bull case for gold, anchored in central bank reserve diversification demand that he expects to continue.

A lot is moving across Asia right now. This conversation maps the most important signals. Listen now.

Discover more episodes at bt.sg/podcasts. Got feedback? Email us at btpodcasts@sph.com.sg.

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Written and hosted by: Howie Lim (howielim@sph.com.sg)

With Yap Fook Hien, senior investment strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

Edited by: Howie Lim & Claressa Monteiro

Produced by: Howie Lim & Chai Pei Chieh

A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media

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