SG Morning Highlights: 'A lot of red': Powell's hawkish pivot to roil Asian markets' open

Advancers / Decliners is 39 to 185, with 186.05 million securities worth S$116.13 million changing hands.

The dollar index gained on Friday (Aug 26) after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell adopted a hawkish tone to battling inflation, but did not settle the debate on how large a rate increase is likely at the US central bank's September meeting.

The US economy will need tight monetary policy "for some time" before inflation is under control, which means slower growth, a weaker job market and "some pain" for households and businesses, Powell said on Friday in remarks that warned there is no quick cure for fast rising prices.

"The hope of a dovish pivot was squashed, at least for now. Powell needs to see more than just one month of improving inflation data and he made it clear that continued tightening is the path he will take," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. Powell gave no indication of how high interest rates might rise before the Fed is finished, only that they will move as high as needed as it seeks to bring down inflation to its 2 per cent target.

First it was palm oil. Then it was chicken.

Rice is the agri commodity to keep an eye on next amid rising food protectionism in the region as inflation persists, although the risk of fresh export curbs remains low for the rest of this year, according to market watchers polled by The Business Times.

The agribusiness has been hit hard since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in an assortment of government bans and disrupted and weakened global supply chains, sparking a significant rally in food prices in the first half that continues to persist.

The largest token was little changed as at 7.45 am in New York. That came after a 2-day drop of 7.6 per cent, moving in tandem with US stocks last Friday after Fed chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole conference. The wider crypto market retreated on Sunday, with the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 100 Index dropping 1 per cent in its fourth straight day of declines.

"Money is flowing out of risky assets. Crypto followed the sharp adjustment of the US stock market" after Powell's remarks, said Cici Lu, chief executive officer at consulting firm Venn Link Partners. "Markets didn't like what he had to say, and Bitcoin is resuming as a high-beta asset."

Losses loom for Asia's stock markets on Monday (Aug 29) as investors absorb Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's stern message that interest rates are going higher for longer in a painful fight against inflation.

Friday's US slump further shrivelled a global bounce in shares from June bear-market lows that was predicated partly on bets of a Fed shift to rate cuts next year as growth slows. Powell spelled out the need for sustained restrictive policy, comments that lifted the US 2-year Treasury yield towards 2022’s high and sent investors scurrying to the US dollar as a shelter from volatility.

Stocks & REITs to Watch

The group also announced the resignation of chief executive Wong Chiang Yin, who is leaving to pursue personal interests. His last day will be on Sep 30. The board said it has identified a potential successor to Dr Wong and will be making an announcement at an appropriate time, it said in a press statement.

In its results announcement, Thomson Medical said net profit for the 6 months ended Jun 30 stood at S$41.3 million, compared with a net profit of S$6.1 million posted the same period a year ago.

They will be redeemed at par with interest accrued on the first reset date on Oct 5, 2022.

The securities were priced and issued in September 2017 under the group's S$5 million multicurrency programme.

This came as revenue grew 14.8 per cent in the quarter to S$22 million, from S$19.1 million a year earlier, amid a 46.5 per cent jump to its US sales to S$5.6 million, and a 6.9 per cent jump to its sales in China, its largest market, to S$6.4 million.

Over the same period, its Singapore market registered double-digit sales growth of 33.5 per cent to S$2.6 million, the company, which manufactures high precision tools and parts used in process-critical applications for the semiconductor industry, added.