The Singapore earnings season kicks off with first-quarter results from Singapore Press Holdings (SGX: T39) on Monday.
In October, the media group said annual profit fell by nearly a quarter from a year ago. The printer of The Straits Times also said revenue from media fell 12%. But revenue from property rose by more than a quarter.
On the economic front, China and the US will “apparently” sign the Phase 1 Trade Deal on 15 January. In a recent TV interview, the US President said: “We’re going to be signing on January 15th – I think it will be January 15th, but shortly thereafter, but I think January 15th – a big deal with China.”
Staying in America, the annual inflation rate in December could have crept up to 2.3% from 2.1% a month ago. It would be the third successive month that consumer prices have risen.
China will report GDP growth rate for the final quarter of 2019. It could show that the Chinese economy grew below 6%, which would be slowest pace of growth for more than ten years.
The People’s Bank of China recently cut the amount of cash that banks are required to hold. But the 0.5% cut in the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) may still not be enough to support the economy that is showing worrying signs of coming off the boil. It may need to cut the Loan Prime Rate later this month.
Meanwhile, Chinese consumers continue to spend, albeit at a slow pace. Retail sales growth in December could come in at 7.5%, which would be slightly slower than in November. Elsewhere, China’s balance of trade could have improved from US$38 billion in November to US$50 billion last month.
The problems that China is facing with its economy pales in comparison with the issues that the UK government must deal with. In November, the economy might only have grown 0.6%, down from 0.7% in October.
And finally, India’s rate of inflation could have breached the central bank’s medium-term target of 4% for the third straight month. The inflation rate for December could have jumped from 5.5% in November to 6.1%.
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Disclosure: David Kuo does not own shares in any companies mentioned.