Here comes the fixed deposit rush

Everyone’s talking about OCBC’s 8-month fixed deposit offering 3.88% p.a. for CPF Ordinary Account (OA) funds this week. 

This has reportedly led to queues that lasted as long as 4 hours in certain branches, as customers rush to lock in the higher interest rates. 

If you’d prefer to make your CPF funds work harder in the comfort of your home, we share how you can now apply for the T-bill with CPF OA funds via DBS internet banking.  

🤖 AI race heats up

What happened? 

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, saw its largest share price decline in over three months, following a botched demonstration of its new artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard. 

What does this mean?

The blunder raised concerns that Google is falling behind its competitors in the future of internet search.

Microsoft (MSFT) has launched a new homepage for its Bing search engine powered by AI, following its $10 billion investment in OpenAI. 

Chinese tech companies have also been trying to keep up. Baidu (BIDU) plans to release its own artificial intelligence chatbot, which will be referred to as "Ernie Bot" in English. JD.com (JD) said it will launch a ChatGPT-style product focused on retail and finance. 

Why should I care? 

Investors have shown significant interest in AI and the share prices of AI-related stocks have risen sharply in recent weeks. 

Funding for AI companies in the private markets has also picked up, which is seen as a remarkable achievement amidst the tech funding drought. 

🚗 WHAT'S MOVING

• Disney (DIS) reported a smaller-than-expected drop in subscribers and earnings that were above analyst expectations. 
• Uber (UBER) reported better than expected earnings and its CEO said that the company ended 2022 with its “strongest quarter ever”.
• Credit Suisse (CS) reported a fourth-quarter and annual loss that missed estimates and expects another “substantial” full-year loss in 2023. 
• Singapore Exchange reported a 7% increase in adjusted net profit for 1HFY2023 ended December, driven by elevated trading volatility. However, its cash equities revenue declined 10% compared to the previous year. 
• Singapore REITs generally moved lower as bond yields rose. This was led by REITs with overseas assets, including Manulife US REIT and Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT. 

Source: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, Business Times, Edge Singapore

💡 THE BIG IMPORTANT STORY

OCBC offering 3.88% p.a. for 8-month fixed deposit using CPF-OA. Is it worthwhile?

OCBC now allows you to earn 3.88% p.a. with a 8-month fixed deposit using your CPF Ordinary Account (CPF OA) funds.

🤓 WHAT WE’RE LOOKING OUT FOR THIS WEEK

• Monday, 13 Feb: DBS, SATS earnings
• Tuesday, 14 Feb: SGX Academy Webinar: Foreign REITs and what to look out for, Singapore Budget 2023, US CPI data
• Wednesday, 15 Feb: US retail sales data
• Thursday, 16 Feb: Singapore 6-month T-bill auction 

Source: Bloomberg, SGX 

🍭 THAT’S INTERESTING

Member of Parliament Tin Pei Ling will switch to a new role involving corporate development at Grab Singapore, following public outcry from her appointment as its director of public affairs and policy. The initial announcement of her appointment drew criticism and raised questions about a potential conflict of interest with her role in Government. 

Source: Straits Times