It's a "wow" number

The Beansprout community was quick this week to spot that one of the banks in Singapore has cut its fixed deposit rate sharply to below 4%. 

This came at a time when the yields on the Singapore treasury bills are declining, with the cut-off yield on the latest T-bill auction falling to 3.88%. 

The US Federal Reserve further fuelled a fall in government bond yields when Chairman Powell said that the “disinflationary process has started”. 

But the exceptionally strong US employment numbers made investors start to doubt if inflation will truly come off sharply.

With the interest rate direction remaining uncertain, we’ve done some work to look for the best fixed deposit rate in Singapore if you’re looking to lock them in now. 

⚠️ Tech giants tumble 

What happened? 

Tech giants Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet reported underwhelming results. This was in sharp contrast to Meta, which finally had some good news for investors. 

What does this mean?

Apple's sales disappointed investors due to weaker demand for iPhones and Macs and supply chain constraints. 

Amazon’s revenue was impacted by slowing online purchases and growth in its cloud business. 

Alphabet's ad business saw slowing sales due to lower client spending and increased competition. 

Why should I care? 

The weaker than expected earnings from tech giants reflect that the economic slowdown has impacted demand for a wide range of products and services including consumer electronics and e-commerce. 

However, there’s some silver lining in the horizon. Executives of big tech companies remain confident of medium term prospects with the relaxation of Covid measures in China, various cost cuts undertaken, and investments in growth areas such as AI.

🚗 WHAT'S MOVING

• Meta (META) announced an expansion of its share buyback program by $40 billion, and reported better-than-anticipated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Spotify (SPOT)'s monthly active users has increased by 20% to reach 489 million, surpassing market expectations.
• Tesla (TSLA) production at its Shanghai plant will increase to nearly 20,000 vehicles per week for the months of February and March, due to increased demand resulting from the company's recent price reductions.
• Keppel Corp’s net profit for the second half of 2022 fell 41% compared to the previous year to S$429 million, as its Urban Development division saw weaker earnings with the slowdown in the Chinese property market. 
• CapitaLand Ascendas REIT reported a 3.5% year-over-year increase in distribution per unit, totaling 15.798 cents, driven by the high occupancy rate of 94.6% in the fiscal year ending December 2022.

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

💡 THE BIG IMPORTANT STORY

Guide to best fixed deposit rate in Singapore (Feb 2023)

Banks in Singapore have started to lower their interest rates on fixed deposit accounts in February 2023, following the fall in yields in recent T-bill auctions.

🤓 WHAT WE’RE LOOKING OUT FOR THIS WEEK

• Monday, 6 Feb: Stockbit webinar: Southeast Asia in Focus - Stock opportunities in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia
• Tuesday, 7 Feb: Lendlease REIT earnings
• Wednesday, 8 Feb: Disney earnings
• Thursday, 9 Feb: SGX, Pepsi, Paypal earnings

Source: Bloomberg, SGX 

🍭 THAT’S INTERESTING

The social network

Mark Zuckerberg's wealth saw the largest one-day increase, growing by $12.5 billion, as he declared 2023 as the "year of efficiency" for his company Meta Platforms Inc. 

The CEO is bouncing back after experiencing a decline in his wealth in 2021, reaching a low point of $142 billion in September. Throughout 2022, his wealth saw fluctuations with losses of up to $31 billion in one day in February, followed by a gain of $11 billion in April, and then another loss of $11 billion in October due to disappointing earnings reports.

Source: Bloomberg