Asia markets set to open mixed as investors assess trade developments, await China benchmark rates
Trade came into focus once again over the weekend as the White House reiterated its position on tariffs.
On Sunday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Aug. 1 the "hard deadline" for countries to start paying tariffs, though he also added that "nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1."
Good morning from Singapore.
Investors will be keeping a close watch on the People's Bank of China's decision on its 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates for July expected later in the day.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 24,883, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI's Friday close of 24,825.66.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,688, compared with its last close of 8,757.20.
Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
— Amala Balakrishner
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday in the red, with stocks turning lower in afternoon trading as tariff fears took over.
The 30-stock Dow lost 142.30 points, or 0.32%, ending at 44,342.19. The S&P 500 inched 0.01% lower to close the session at 6,296.79.The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added just 0.05% to settle at 20,895.66.
— Pia Singh
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
14 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Charles Schwab ETF (SCHG) Flaunts Top-Tier Growth Stock Package
If you're looking for a long-term core holding to anchor your portfolio, the Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF (SCHG) is a compelling choice—and so is its sponsor, Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW). SCHG, managed by Schwab Asset Management, oversees approximately $46 billion in non-discretionary assets (in addition to $1.3 trillion in discretionary assets) and offers diversified exposure to leading growth stocks tied to some of the market's most durable long-term themes. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Its strong performance track record and ultra-low expense ratio make it particularly attractive for cost-conscious investors aiming to maximize long-term returns. At the same time, Charles Schwab Corporation, the parent company behind the fund, presents its own investment appeal as a major player in brokerage, banking, and asset management. Comparing SCHG with Vanguard Any serious discussion about what makes SCHG a compelling investment must start with its standout performance history. It's a well-known investing truth that few funds—whether ETFs, mutual funds, or even hedge funds—consistently outperform the market over time. SCHG is one of the rare exceptions, and it has been doing so for years. As of the most recent monthly close, SCHG delivered an impressive annualized return of 26.9% over the past three years. In comparison, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which tracks the broader market via the S&P 500 (SPX), returned 19.6% annualized over the same period —strong in its own right, but trailing SCHG by a full seven percentage points annually. Looking further back, SCHG has continued to outperform. Over the past five years, it posted an 18.7% annualized return, outpacing VOO's 16.6%. And over the past decade, SCHG returned 16.7% annually, compared to VOO's 13.6%. Investing in a fund that delivers consistent double-digit annualized returns is a powerful way to grow portfolio value over time. To illustrate, a $10,000 investment in SCHG 10 years ago would be worth $45,645 today. While it's true that past performance doesn't guarantee future results, SCHG's long-term track record of outperformance positions it as a fund investors can reasonably count on to continue delivering strong results over time. SCHG's Miniscule Expense Ratio Not only has SCHG helped investors build wealth over time, but it also helps them preserve it with a negligible expense ratio of just 0.04%. This means that an investor putting $10,000 into the fund will pay just $4 in fees annually. Assuming that SCHG maintains this expense ratio and returns 5% per year going forward, the investor putting $10,000 into SCHG will pay just $34 in fees over the next 10 years. It's worth noting that this makes SCHG significantly cheaper than one of the other most popular tech- and growth-oriented ETFs, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which charges a comparatively higher expense ratio of 0.20%. Exposure to Top Growth Stocks Importantly, SCHG's portfolio is where the rubber hits the road for investors. As a passively managed index fund, it offers solid diversification across 228 holdings, tracking the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index. That said, the fund is somewhat top-heavy—its top 10 holdings make up 58.5% of total assets. Nvidia (NVDA) leads the pack with a 12.3% weighting, followed closely by Microsoft (MSFT) at 11.0%, both reflecting their dominant roles in the current growth landscape. Below is a snapshot of SCHG's top 10 holdings, as sourced from TipRanks' holdings tool. As you can see, SCHG's top 10 holdings are a veritable who's who list of the top tech and growth stocks that have come to define the Tech market in recent years. In addition to the Magnificent Seven stocks, SCHG's top 10 holdings also include semiconductor giant Broadcom (AVGO), a key player in the AI revolution, and pharma megacap Eli Lilly (LLY), whose weight loss drugs have taken the healthcare sector by storm. Just outside of SCHG's top 10 holdings, other prominent positions include Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), Palantir (PLTR), Netflix (NFLX), and GE Aerospace (GE). What I find especially appealing about SCHG's portfolio is its dual advantage. On one hand, it offers immediate exposure to a roster of established market leaders with strong track records of outperformance. On the other hand, it positions investors to benefit from transformative, long-term growth themes. These include generative AI through companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, Meta Platforms (META), and Alphabet (GOOGL); autonomous vehicles via Tesla and Alphabet; robotics through Amazon (AMZN) and Tesla; and breakthroughs in biotech and weight-loss drugs through names like Eli Lilly (LLY). These are precisely the innovation-driven sectors that long-term investors should be targeting. One notable risk is SCHG's relatively high valuation—its holdings currently trade at a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 36.8, well above the S&P 500's average of around 25. This is something investors should keep in mind. However, these are high-growth companies with strong earnings potential, which could make today's valuations appear more reasonable over time. For valuation-conscious investors like myself, strategies such as dollar-cost averaging or buying during market pullbacks can help mitigate this risk and build positions more prudently. SCHG is a Dividend Payer While it's not the fund's main calling card, SCHG is a dividend payer, albeit with a low dividend yield of just 0.38%. Still, the ETF has increased the size of its payout each of the past three years in a row, and I would expect it to continue to do so going forward as the stocks it holds increase their earnings over the years. Is SCHG a Good ETF to Buy? Turning to Wall Street, SCHG earns a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 201 Buys, 26 Holds, and one Sell rating assigned in the past three months. The average SCHG price target of $32.67 implies ~7.6% upside potential over the coming twelve months. Investor Takeaway While there's no shortage of ETFs on the market, few have consistently outperformed the broader indices over time, the way SCHG has. I'm bullish on SCHG due to its strong track record of long-term outperformance, ultra-low expense ratio, and high-quality portfolio of blue-chip growth stocks. These attributes make it a compelling choice for investors seeking a reliable, long-term core holding to anchor their portfolios for the long term.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GQG's Rajiv Jain on Active ETF GQGU
The GQG US Equity ETF began trading earlier this month under the ticker GQGU. The actively managed fund aims to beat the S&P 500 by investing at least 80% of its assets in growth-oriented equities. GQG Partners Chair and CIO Rajiv Jain discusses the fund and the state of the market with Katie Greifeld, Scarlet Fu and Eric Balchunas on "ETF IQ." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
36 minutes ago
- CNBC
Euro hovers near one-month lows after trade deal, focus switches to Fed
The euro steadied near its lowest in a month on Wednesday, nursing steep losses this week as investors counted the cost of the U.S.-EU trade pact and looked ahead to policy meetings from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce on Tuesday, following two days of what both sides described as constructive talks in Stockholm. No major breakthroughs were announced, and U.S. officials said it was up to President Donald Trump to decide whether to extend a truce that expires on August 12. The Sino-U.S. talks come after a framework deal between the U.S. and EU was announced on Sunday. The accord has evoked a mix of relief and concern from Europe, as the agreement was lopsided and skewed towards the United States. "Markets seem to be increasingly interpreting trade agreements as symbolic and tactical rather than structural resolution," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore. "With terms often vague and enforcement mechanisms weak, investors are assigning lower market beta to these negotiations unless backed by concrete detail." The euro was 0.12% higher at $1.1558 in early trading after dropping for the first two days of the week and hitting a one-month low of $1.15185 on Tuesday. The euro is up 11.7% since the start of the year but on course for its first monthly drop this year. The single currency has benefited this year from the dollar losing its luster due to Trump's erratic trade policies, prompting investors to look for alternatives. Sterling was at $1.3358 and the Australian dollar last bought $0.6517. The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.178 per U.S. dollar. The Japanese yen firmed a bit to 148.20 per dollar. That left the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six others, at 98.815, hovering near a one-month high. The index is set to record its first month of gains this year. Investor focus will now switch to central bank meetings, with the Fed due to announce its policy decision later on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to stand pat, making comments from Chair Jerome Powell crucial to gauge the policy path. The policy decision comes in the wake of Trump's constant demands for rate cuts, which have coincided with an unrelenting campaign of attacks on Powell by the president and administration officials. There is speculation that Governor Christopher Waller and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman could issue dissents if the Fed on Wednesday holds the policy rate steady for the fifth time since December. "While dissenting isn't uncommon, the dissents at this week's meeting may get more focus because Trump has made it crystal clear that he thinks the FOMC should be lowering interest rates," said Kristina Clifton, a senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "Dissents at this meeting may be judged as political and put a dent in perceptions of the FOMC's independence." The BOJ is also expected to stand pat and the spotlight will be on comments from Governor Kazuo Ueda as investors hope the recent trade deal between Japan and the U.S. paves the way for the central bank to raise interest rates again this year.
