- After an encouraging 3.5% rise in January, the Singapore market returned all its gains to finish 1Q23 relatively unchanged. Higher-than-expected inflation in the US plus jitters over banks pushed markets lower. Singapore banks were sluggish.
- The largest gainers were conglomerates from successful restructuring and better-than-expected results. Property counters were surprisingly the weakest as higher interest and a large pipeline of new launches haunted investors.
2Q23 Market Outlook:
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- Secondly, raising rates will only deepen balance-sheet losses for US banks. With government and central bank stimulus, deposits in the US banking system surged by US$4.3tr over three years. Almost US$1.5t p.a., or triple the pre-pandemic level, was deployed to purchase government and mortgage securities. This raised bank balance sheet risk to interest rates. The curse of marking to market is either recognising the security losses immediately (as available for sale) or warehous ing (as held to maturity).
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Investment Recommendation:
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