US stocks fall on AI rivalry and tariff concerns, T-bill yields bounce: Weekly Market Recap

I’ve always enjoyed the spirit of Chinese New Year.

No, I’m not a fan of bak kwa, I don’t eat pineapple tarts, and I try to avoid the festive tunes blasting in department stores.

For me, Chinese New Year is about reunion—a time to pause, reconnect, and catch up with family and friends.

This year, two moments made me reflect on what true wealth really means.

While shopping for decorations, I overheard a conversation between a middle-aged lady and a shopkeeper. She was carefully choosing between couplets and eventually picked one symbolising great wealth. 

As she explained her choice, she said something that translated to “Who doesn’t want to get rich?” It’s a sentiment that resonates with many—after all, financial security is something most of us strive for.

Later, as I caught up with relatives I see only once a year, I was reminded of how quickly time passes. And amidst all the well wishes for longevity, I realised that good health is just as valuable—if not more—than financial success.

At Beansprout, we often share ways to grow your financial wealth. This Chinese New Year, I also want to wish you abundance in relationships, strength in health, and joy in the year ahead.

May you have a prosperous and fulfilling year in every way that truly matters! 

Gerald, Founder of Beansprout

⏰ This Week In Markets

📈 Who leads in Artificial intelligence?

What happened? 

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) developer, has introduced a new model that is said to be significantly more energy-efficient and cost-effective than other leading AI applications, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

According to its technical report, DeepSeek’s V3 model was trained at a cost of just $5.6 million—only a fraction of the cost of rival models from OpenAI.

What does this mean?

The emergence of DeepSeek sparked concerns about the US's dominance and perceived competitive edge in the AI space.

It has also raised questions about the billions of dollars invested in advanced AI chips, including those produced by Nvidia.

Why should I care? 

US tech stocks tumbled, with Nvidia plunging 17% on Monday, wiping out US$589 billion in market value.

Meanwhile, Alibaba’s share price climbed after it unveiled a new AI model that it claimed outperforms DeepSeek.

Singapore data centre REITs also took a hit, as concerns over reduced demand for data centre space weighed on investor sentiment. Keppel DC REIT's share price fell by 8%, Digital Core REIT's share price fell 6%, and Mapletree Industrial Trust's share price declined 3% on Monday.

🚗  Moving This Week

• Seatrium has been awarded a contract by Japan-based Penta-Ocean Construction (POC) to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction for a 5,000-ton fully revolving heavy lift vessel project for the Japanese offshore wind market. The contract value was not disclosed. Read more here.
• Keppel REIT reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.80 cents for the 2HFY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, 3.4% lower y-o-y. The lower DPU for the 2HFY2024 was mainly due to higher borrowing costs. Read more here.
• DBS has acquired an additional stake in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB) for 1.6 billion yuan, increasing its stake from 16.7%  to 19.4%. The investment is said to be in line with DBS’ strategy to expand its exposure to China’s greater bay area. Read more here.
• Apple reported a 4% rise in revenue to $124.3 billion as growth in services, Mac, and iPad sales offset a slight decline in iPhone revenue.
• Tesla shared plans to launch long-awaited cheaper models in the first half of 2025 and start testing an autonomous ride-hailing service in June, overshadowing its quarterly results that fell short of expectations.
• Meta Platforms reported strong revenue growth, but provided lower than expected revenue guidance and anticipates higher expenses moving forward.
• Microsoft’s Azure cloud services grew at a pace below expectations, and the company provided a cautious revenue outlook for the upcoming quarter. 

Source: Bloomberg, CNBC, Business Times, Edge Singapore

💡 The Big Important Story

T-bill yield bounces to 3.04% as demand dips

 The cut-off yield for the latest 6-month Singapore T-bill on 28 January rose to 3.04%.

🤓 What we're looking out for next week

• Monday, 3 Feb: Lendlease Global Commercial REIT earnings
• Tuesday, 4 Feb: Keppel Infrastructure Trust, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust earnings
• Wednesday, 5 Feb: CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Keppel earnings
• Thursday, 6 Feb: CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, SGX earnings
• Friday, 7 Feb: Frasers Property earnings 

Check out the full list of Singapore stocks, REITs and ETFs with upcoming dividend payments with our dividend calendar.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg, Refinitiv

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