Morning Brief

The sleepy town of Kuala Selangor is the battleground for another showdown of giants this GE15. Caretaker Finance Minister Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz will make his maiden run here, going up against Amanah incumbent and former Health Minister Dato’ Dzulkefly Ahmad. How will voters decide this time around? Adib Zalkapli of BowerGroupAsia gives us his take.

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The Hang Seng Index at one point last month was trading at 11-year lows. But it has rebounded strongly from the depths it reached in October and is up by more than 20%. Part of the gains as well as speculation that China may be gradually relaxing its stringent Covid-19 policies and the recent property rescue incentives. Recently China reduced the quarantine time for international travellers by two days to five days. Will China continue to gradually dial back on its Covid-19 policies and will this be a boon for the stock market? For insights we speak to Peter Lewis, Founder and Director of Peter Lewis Consulting (China) Limited.

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Malaysia’s economy registered a stronger growth of 14.2 percent in the third quarter of 2022 from 8.9 percent in the second quarter. The 14.2 percent is the fastest GDP pace posted by any Southeast Asian nation during the period, surpassing Vietnam's 13.7 percent. Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said headline inflation was likely to have peaked for the year at 4.5 percent during the quarter from 2.8 percent in Q2 2022. What does this all mean for the future OPR hikes and the Ringgit? For insights, we speak to Julia Goh, Senior Economist, UOB Malaysia.

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Malaysia’s economy registered a stronger growth of 14.2 percent in the third quarter of 2022 from 8.9 percent in the second quarter. The 14.2 percent is the fastest GDP pace posted by any Southeast Asian nation during the period, surpassing Vietnam's 13.7 percent. Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said headline inflation was likely to have peaked for the year at 4.5 percent during the quarter from 2.8 percent in Q2 2022. What does this all mean for the future OPR hikes and the Ringgit? For insights, we speak to Julia Goh, Senior Economist, UOB Malaysia.

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For GE15, 3 major coalitions are fighting to run the country, with a crowded field of 945 candidates contesting in 222 parliamentary seats. All of which makes the outcome harder to predict, thus raising the prospect of a hung parliament after every vote has been counted. New Sin Yew, Constitutional Lawyer, tells us what the Federal Constitution does say or doesn't say about such a situation.

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We speak to Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute, as to what the stakes are for this much anticipated meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping who will be having their first face to face meeting since Biden became the President of the US on the sidelines of the Group 20 summit in Bali.

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FTX, which was at one time the 2nd largest crypto exchange, saw its fortunes take a dive after a series of bad decisions by its owner, Sam Bankman-Fried. It looked like a white knight in the form of a rival, Binance would come and save the day but that deal is now dead in the water. Bankman-Fried told investors that the company is facing a shortfall of up to 8 billion dollars from withdrawal requests and needs emergency funding. Will all this have a contagion on the price of cryptocurrencies and broader markets and will there be a white knight that will come to FTX's rescue? For insights we speak to Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer, Singlife with Aviva.

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With GE15 round the corner, what are the do's and don'ts for voters, candidates and parties alike? Thomas Fann, Chairperson of Bersih reminds us whilst dispelling the fake news that has been swirling on the voting process.

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FTX, which was at one time the 2nd largest crypto exchange, saw its fortunes take a dive after a series of bad decisions by its owner, Sam Bankman-Fried. It looked like a white knight in the form of a rival, Binance would come and save the day but that deal is now dead in the water. Bankman-Fried told investors that the company is facing a shortfall of up to 8 billion dollars from withdrawal requests and needs emergency funding. Will all this have a contagion on the price of cryptocurrencies and broader markets and will there be a white knight that will come to FTX's rescue? For insights we speak to Varun Mittal, Chief Growth Officer, Singlife with Aviva.

Image credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With GE15 round the corner, what are the do's and don'ts for voters, candidates and parties alike? Thomas Fann, Chairperson of Bersih reminds us whilst dispelling the fake news that has been swirling on the voting process.

Image credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.