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Business Recorder
18 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Asian currencies muted on tariff jitters
BENGALURU: Stocks in Indonesia hit a near four-week high on Monday, driven by conglomerate Barito Pacific-related firms after index provider MSCI removed them from a watch list, while Singapore's benchmark touched an all-time high for a ninth straight session. Jakarta's equity benchmark index gained for the sixth consecutive session to touch its highest since June 18. Barito Pacific jumped 16% after MSCI said the conglomerate's associate companies - Barito Renewables, Petrindo Kreasi Jaya and Petrosea - would be eligible for future inclusions to its list. All the firms soared up to 19%. Investors in Indonesia are also focusing on the central bank policy decision due on Wednesday. Analysts widely expect Bank Indonesia to deliver a rate cut. Singapore's FTSE Straits Times index hit a record high for the ninth consecutive session, led by strong inflows into industrials, telecoms, and real-estate stocks. Data showed the city-state's economy grew 1.4% in the second quarter of 2025, rebounding from a 0.5% contraction in the previous quarter and narrowly avoiding a technical recession, ahead of a policy review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore later this month. 'The MAS monetary policy review due later this month may adopt a 'wait-and-see' mode barring downside core CPI risks...,' said analysts at OCBC. Technology-linked stocks led the decline on the Taiwan bourse. The benchmark index fell 0.6%, tracking a dip in US equity futures, as investors assessed latest developments on tariffs by US President Donald Trump.
The Star
a day ago
- Business
- The Star
Jakarta, Singapore stocks rally; currencies muted on tariff jitters
Stocks in Indonesia hit a near four-week high on Monday, driven by conglomerate Barito Pacific-related firms after index provider MSCI removed them from a watch list, while Singapore's benchmark touched an all-time high for a ninth straight session. Jakarta's equity benchmark index gained for the sixth consecutive session to touch its highest since June 18. Barito Pacific jumped 16% after MSCI said the conglomerate's associate companies - Barito Renewables, Petrindo Kreasi Jaya and Petrosea - would be eligible for future inclusions to its list. All the firms soared up to 19%. Investors in Indonesia are also focusing on the central bank policy decision due on Wednesday. Analysts widely expect Bank Indonesia to deliver a rate cut. Singapore's FTSE Straits Times index hit a record high for the ninth consecutive session, led by strong inflows into industrials, telecoms, and real-estate stocks. Data showed the city-state's economy grew 1.4% in the second quarter of 2025, rebounding from a 0.5% contraction in the previous quarter and narrowly avoiding a technical recession, ahead of a policy review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore later this month. "The MAS monetary policy review due later this month may adopt a 'wait-and-see' mode barring downside core CPI risks...," said analysts at OCBC. Technology-linked stocks led the decline on the Taiwan bourse. The benchmark index fell 0.6%, tracking a dip in U.S. equity futures, as investors assessed latest developments on tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump. "The 32% tariff heading Taiwan's way in conjunction with the spate of other tariff raised a few more questions about how well the economy can handle potential tariff-related disruptions," said Tim Waterer, a market analyst at KCM Trade. Currencies across emerging Asia slipped marginally against the U.S. dollar, as markets continued to weigh Trump's tariff threats against Mexico and the European Union. The Mexican peso and the euro both weakened overnight, with the latter slipping to a three-week low. Thailand's baht was steady, while the Taiwan dollar and Philippine peso traded 0.3% lower each. "We suspect the recent tariff developments are likely to further erode policymakers' confidence that deals would put an end to uncertainty over U.S. trade policy," said analysts at Barclays. Investors will also look out for the U.S. inflation report, due Tuesday, which would be crucial for the Federal Reserve to consider the next rate cut. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Singapore economy grows 4.3% in second quarter, advance estimate shows ** Data centre NTT DC REIT makes tepid debut after Singapore's biggest IPO in 4 years - Reuters
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Jakarta, Singapore stocks rally; currencies muted on tariff jitters
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG: Stocks in Indonesia hit a near four-week high on Monday, driven by conglomerate Barito Pacific-related firms after index provider MSCI removed them from a watch list, while Singapore's benchmark touched an all-time high for a ninth straight session. Jakarta's equity benchmark index gained for the sixth consecutive session to touch its highest since June 18. Barito Pacific jumped 16 per cent after MSCI said the conglomerate's associate companies - Barito Renewables , Petrindo Kreasi Jaya and Petrosea - would be eligible for future inclusions to its list. All the firms soared up to 19 per cent. Investors in Indonesia are also focusing on the central bank policy decision due on Wednesday. Analysts widely expect Bank Indonesia to deliver a rate cut. Singapore's FTSE Straits Times index hit a record high for the ninth consecutive session, led by strong inflows into industrials, telecoms, and real-estate stocks. Data showed the city-state's economy grew 1.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, rebounding from a 0.5 per cent contraction in the previous quarter and narrowly avoiding a technical recession, ahead of a policy review by the Monetary Authority of Singapore later this month. "The MAS monetary policy review due later this month may adopt a 'wait-and-see' mode barring downside core CPI risks...," said analysts at OCBC. Technology-linked stocks led the decline on the Taiwan bourse. The benchmark index fell 0.6 per cent, tracking a dip in US equity futures, as investors assessed latest developments on tariffs by US President Donald Trump. "The 32 per cent tariff heading Taiwan's way in conjunction with the spate of other tariff raised a few more questions about how well the economy can handle potential tariff-related disruptions," said Tim Waterer, a market analyst at KCM Trade. Currencies across emerging Asia slipped marginally against the US dollar, as markets continued to weigh Trump's tariff threats against Mexico and the European Union. The Mexican peso and the euro both weakened overnight, with the latter slipping to a three-week low. Thailand's baht was steady, while the Taiwan dollar and Philippine peso traded 0.3 per cent lower each. "We suspect the recent tariff developments are likely to further erode policymakers' confidence that deals would put an end to uncertainty over US trade policy," said analysts at Barclays. Investors will also look out for the US inflation report, due Tuesday, which would be crucial for the Federal Reserve to consider the next rate cut.
Business Recorder
10-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Economic Survey: Pakistan Stock Exchange one of world's top performers
KARACHI: While, major Asian stock market indices show mixed performance, Pakistan's equity market emerged as one of the world's top performers with over 50 percent growth in FY25, reflecting storing investor sentiments and economic recovery. According to Pakistan Economic Survey, Pakistan's capital markets, particularly the equity market, outperformed the world stock markets in FY25. The KSE-100 Index grew substantially due to a stable macroeconomic environment and improved market sentiments. The debt market also remained steady; it is important to mention that net inflow is recorded after four years under the National Saving Scheme. On the other side, the performance of major Asian stock market indices presents a diverse situation from end June 2024 to end-March 2025. KSE-100 remained the most attractive market for investors with an unprecedented increase of 50.2 percent, followed by Hang Seng of Hong Kong (30.5 percent), FTSE Straits Times of Singapore (18.3 percent), Shanghai Composite of China (12.4 percent), and VN30 Index of Vietnam (6.7 percent). However, decline has been observed in the Korean Composite Index, the SET Index of Thailand, the Jakarta Composite Index, the PSEi Composite of the Philippines, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index of Malaysia, and the BSE Sensex 30 of India. During July-March of FY25, the PSX's benchmark KSE-100 index performed remarkably well and registered a significant growth of 50.2 percent increased from 78,445 points to 117,807 points. During the period under review, the index closed at its highest level of 118,770 points on March 20, 2025, while the lowest level was observed at 77,084 points on August 05, 2024. The Survey said that the unprecedented performance of the KSE-100 Index can be associated with the robust corporate earnings, declining policy rate and inflation, successful first IMF EEF programme review and subsequent disbursement of the tranche, and stable macroeconomic environment, which boosted investors' confidence. The average daily volume surged to 828 million shares compared to 621 million shares witnessed during FY 2024. As of March 31, 2025, the number of listed companies stood at 527, with total listed capital of Rs 1,727 billion and market capitalization of Rs 14,374 billion. Total funds mobilized between July and March FY 2025 in the PSX amounted to Rs 9,740.6 million, which comprises Rs 8,991 million of capital of new listing, while the debt issued stood at Rs 750 million. Around $ 242 million worth of securities were offloaded by foreign investors which were absorbed by domestic investors. The PSX's market capitalization recorded Rs 10,375 billion ($ 37.3 billion) on 30 June 2024. It closed at Rs 14,374 billion ($ 51.30 billion) on 31 March 2025, reflecting an increase of 38.5 percent (Rs 4,000 billion) in the period under review. According to Economic Survey, following the first auction of government debt securities (GDS) through capital market infrastructure institutions in December 2023, the government conducted 19 GDS auctions, raising Rs 2.3 trillion as of March 31, 2025. Different types of sovereign Sukuk instruments, including discounted, fixed-rate, and variable-rate Sukuks of various maturities, have been issued and are available for trading at PSX. In addition, the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited (PMEX) offers a broad range of commodities futures contracts under four main categories: metals, agricultural, financial, and energy. During July-March FY 2025, 5.88 million lots of various commodities futures contracts worth Rs 6.54 trillion were traded on the exchange. Warehouses accredited by the collateral management company issued 448 electronic warehouse receipts (EWRs) carrying a value of Rs 4.72 billion against the deposit of eligible agricultural commodities. Around 64 percent of the issued EWRs were used as collateral, providing easy access to bank finance for the farmers and depositors of agriculture produce in accredited warehouses. As of December 31, 2024, assets under management of mutual funds stood at Rs 4,438.6 billion. Money Market funds dominated the industry with the largest share of 43.6 percent of the mutual fund industry, followed by income funds with 31.9 percent, equity funds with an industry share of 9.5 percent, and the remaining 15 percent by other categories. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
