To The Moon

Global markets continue to rise; Japanese stocks increase as expectations of a dovish Fed lead to a stronger yen.

🇺🇸 S&P 500 Index: 0.98% 📈

🇺🇸 Nasdaq Index: 1.39% 📈

🇪🇺 Stoxx 600 Index: 0.62% 📈

🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 Index: -1.77% 📉

🇭🇰 Hang Seng Index: 0.80% 📈 $HSI(HSI)$  

🇨🇳 CSI 300 Index: 0.34% 📈

U.S. stocks continue to rise, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indexes gaining 1.0% and 1.4% respectively, driven by expectations for positive outcomes from the Democratic National Convention and the upcoming Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

Asia-Pacific markets rally, with the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai CSI 300 Index rising by 0.8% and 0.3% respectively. Technology stocks like Xiaomi and Baidu $Baidu(BIDU)$  $BIDU-SW(09888)$ lead the gains as investors focus on the upcoming earnings season and potential dovish stance from the Fed at Jackson Hole later this week.

💡 Upcoming Events: 💡

On Tuesday, China will release the 1-year and 5-year Loan Prime Rates, and the EU will announce the final core CPI and annual CPI rates.

On Wednesday, Japan will publish its export year-on-year rate.

On Thursday, investor attention will be on the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee minutes, S&P Global Manufacturing and Services PMI previews, unemployment claims, EU Manufacturing and Services PMI previews, Japan’s Manufacturing PMI preview.

By the end of the week, we will see comments from U.S. Fed Chair Powell, Japan's National Core CPI year-on-year.

💡 Key Points for Today: 💡

1. AMD $Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$  has acquired server manufacturer ZT Systems for $4.9 billion to enhance its AI capabilities and expand its AI chip and hardware portfolio, intensifying competition with Nvidia $NVIDIA Corp(NVDA)$  . The addition of ZT Systems engineers will enable AMD to test and launch its latest AI GPUs more quickly to meet the demands of cloud giants like Microsoft.

AMD x ZT

2. The Shanghai Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund (SSIIF), aimed at supporting China's chip self-sufficiency, has raised 6.9 billion yuan in new funding from state-owned enterprises based in Shanghai. This has doubled its capital base to 14.5 billion yuan as China's semiconductor center increases investments in the sector amid U.S. sanctions.

China's chips

3. Thailand's GDP growth accelerated in the second quarter to 2.3% year-on-year, up from 1.6% in the first quarter and surpassing the 2.1% forecast. This is attributed to stronger consumption, tourism, and exports, though policy uncertainty following the government change casts a shadow over the outlook. Officials now expect growth this year to be between 2.3% and 2.8%, narrowing from the previous forecast range of 2.0% to 3.0%.

4. Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard's acquisition proposal for Seven & i Holdings highlights the vulnerability of the Japanese retail group to takeover attempts, as its restructuring plans fell short, leading to lower business efficiency. According to QUICK FactSet, Alimentation’s return on invested capital is 11%, significantly higher than Seven & i's 3%.

Couche-Tard

5. Prolintas Infra Business Trust, the first local-listed commercial trust, reported a net profit of 4.03 million ringgit for the second quarter, down from 14.64 million ringgit in the same period last year. This decline is due to 34.6 million ringgit in financing costs related to Malaysia Development Bank and 7.9 million ringgit in income tax expenses. Increased traffic has led to a more than doubling of toll revenue.

Prolintas

✅ Key Takeaway:

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes have extended their gains for eight days, marking the longest rally of the year as investors shake off recent recession concerns. The Jackson Hole Economic Symposium will begin on Thursday, with Fed Chair Powell's speech on Friday being closely watched for clues on the central bank's path to easing monetary policy.

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