Standard Chartered Money Insights

The NZD or “Kiwi” looks well supported by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The central bank is likely to be one of the first movers within Developed Markets to start normalising monetary policy – given New Zealand’s well-documented COVID-19 recovery so far. Terms of trade should also prop up New Zealand exports and act as a tailwind for the NZD. We would favour a ‘buy-on-dips’ approach for NZD/USD on any retracement below 0.7200.

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

Recent data have reignited inflation worries, but we expect the rise in inflation to be short-lived given still-wide gaps to full employment in major economies. We maintain our preference for global equities and Emerging Market and High Yield corporate bonds, noting they have historically performed well in both rising and falling inflation scenarios as long as global growth is rising.

Speakers:

• Steve Brice, Chief Investment Officer, Standard Chartered Bank
• Audrey Goh, Senior Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also called “People’s Goals”, are 17 goals that are designed to represent a universal blueprint for all countries and actors to come together to achieve a more sustainable future. We will delve deeper into what these SDGs are and how these can help investors looking to make an impact on their investments. 

Speakers:

• Eugenia Koh, Head, Sustainable Investing, Standard Chartered Bank 
• Jan Anton van Zanten, SDG Strategist, Robeco 

We are watching the recovery of GBP/SGD from its post-Brexit lows closely – especially the prospect of GBP gains accelerating from a technical perspective.  We expect any downside technical corrections in GBP/SGD to be shallow and hold above 1.85.

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

The 35% plunge in Bitcoin prices since their April peak and this week’s volatility sends a stark message to investors – not to put core investments at risk by chasing the latest mania. While we do not expect Bitcoin’s latest bout of volatility to have a contagion effect on other assets, these episodes are a reminder of the benefits of a diversified asset allocation. We remain pro-risk on a 6-12 month horizon.

Speakers:

• Marco Iachini, Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Manpreet Gill, Head of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (FICC) Investment Strategy, Standard Chartered Bank
• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

The mainstreaming of ESG is inevitable, with the European counterparts ahead of the game with a head start, and Asia playing catch up. Government regulations and Covid-19 has changed investor focus and attitudes in Asia, and the growth and momentum will continue. We will delve deeper into changing landscape in Asia and what investors starting out in sustainable investing can consider. 

Speakers:

• Eugenia Koh, Head, Sustainable Investing, Standard Chartered Bank 
• Victor Wong, Head of Sustainability Office, UOB Asset Management 

As the debate around the return of inflation rages, we see near-term price pressures and talk of a gradual unwind in monetary policy stimulus in several Developed Markets as an affirmation of improving underlying fundamentals. Therefore, we would use pullbacks to add exposure to commodity-linked currencies such as the AUD and CAD.

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

A surge in US inflation jolted markets this week on concerns it could force the Fed to tighten policy sooner than expected. We lay out reasons why we believe the inflation spike is likely to be temporary, caused by short-term distortions in the labour market and supply bottlenecks. Since fundamentals continue to improve, we would use any dislocation in markets to build on our medium-term investment themes.

Speakers:

• Manish Jaradi, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Fook Hien Yap, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

The last week has proven to be a relatively lively period for the GBP following the conclusion of the Bank of England policy meeting and the Scottish elections. A ‘buy-on-dips’ approach is still attractive for GBP/USD, in our view, given we expect an increasingly less dovish BoE and continued rapid re-opening of the UK’s economy. 

Speakers:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

US corporate earnings have once again delivered a resoundingly positive surprise. European earnings have also significantly beaten expectations. Bull markets are usually sustained by repeated earnings beats of this magnitude. While some equity market technical indicators are stretched, we remain buyers on dips.

Speakers:

• Steve Brice, Chief Investment Officer, Standard Chartered Bank
• Marco Iachini, Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank