Market Daily

Equity Market Updates

Intel (INTC US)

Shares of Intel closed lower on Monday after the Trump administration is reportedly in talks to take a 10% stake in the company by converting some or all its Chips Act grants into equity. Intel had been slated to receive a combined USD10.9bln in Chips Act grants for commercial and military production, and the figure is roughly enough to pay for the government's holding.

Intel’s shares recovered losses to gain more than 5% in after market hours, however, after Japan’s Softbank announced that it would make a USD2bln investment in the company, offering to pay USD23 for the chipmaker’s common stock.

Further developments surrounding Intel’s ownership is likely to be key to its share price going forward.

MARKET CONSENSUS: 4 BUYS, 40 HOLDS, 7 SELLS, AVERAGE TP USD21.95

Palo Alto (PANW US)

Palo Alto beat revenue and earnings expectations for FY4Q and released fiscal 2026 revenue and profit guidance above analysts' estimates on Monday, betting on rising demand for its AI-powered cybersecurity solutions. This is likely to be positive for the company's share price going forward.

The company has been benefiting from an AI-driven upgrade cycle as enterprises accelerate their cloud adoption and modernise security operations amid rising data breach incidents involving global companies including Microsoft and Walt Disney.

Palo Alto's new launches such as cloud security platform 'Cortex Cloud' and security platform to protect AI apps 'Prisma AIRS’, coupled with its planned USD25bln CyberArk acquisition, deepen its cybersecurity offerings.

MARKET CONSENSUS: 44 BUYS, 13 HOLDS, 2 SELLS, AVERAGE TP USD212.65

Alphabet (GOOGL US)

Alphabet’s Google agreed on Monday to pay a AUD55mln (USD36 mln) fine imposed by Australia’s competition watchdog for signing anticompetitive deals with the country’s two biggest telecommunications companies, Telstra and Optus.

Under the anticompetitive agreements, which were in place for 15 months until March 2021, Telstra and Optus pre-installed Google Search on Android phones sold to customers while excluding other search engines. In exchange, Google shared a portion of the advertisement revenue generated from those users with the telcos.

The fine adds to a rocky period for the tech giant in Australia, coming just a week after a court largely ruled against it in Epic Games’ lawsuit alleging Google and Apple of blocking rival application stores in their operating systems. This could potentially put downward pressure on Alphabet’s share price in the near term.

MARKET CONSENSUS: 63 BUYS, 12 HOLDS, AVERAGE TP USD220.46

Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC)

Shares of Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk surged more than 6% on Monday after it slashed the cost of Ozempic for cash-paying patients by around half to USD499 per month through NovoCare and partnering with GoodRx. This new offering is aimed at expanding availability for patients who don’t have insurance coverage, giving them access to a more affordable version of the drug.

Novo Nordisk also added that the offer is unrelated to its discussions with the US government, which has been putting pressure on pharmaceutical companies to lower prices.

Investors will closely watch how this will impact Novo Nordisk’s top- and bottom-line going forward.

MARKET CONSENSUS: 15 BUYS, 16 HOLDS, 2 SELLS, AVERAGE TP DKK462.86

Lenovo (992 HK)

Lenovo announced on Monday the appointment of its executive leadership team for Saudi Arabia and plans to create a regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh.

The RHQ will support Lenovo's broader regional strategy, including investments in a flagship retail space, VIP customer center, R&D, marketing, and strategic partnerships across Saudi Arabia.

According to the plan, the new factory in Riyadh is expected to start trial production in 2026, with an annual capacity of producing millions of products such as laptops, mobile phones and servers.

MARKET CONSENSUS: 32 BUYS, 4 HOLDS, AVERAGE TP HKD13.48

Earnings Announcements

Global Indices Changes (%)

Fixed Income Market Updates

EUROPEAN BANK COCO (AT1)

The AT1 market opened 0.125 points lower, reflecting macroeconomic retracement. Standard Chartered AT1 bonds dropped 0.25 to 0.375 points after US lawmakers called for an investigation into the bank over alleged US$9.6 billion in illicit payments to terrorists. The AT1 space appears to be losing momentum for a rally, given tight spreads and anticipated primary market supply.

ASIA INVESTMENT GRADE (IG)

In China IG, ChemChina led the sector with its credit curve repriced 5 basis points tighter. Other technology names remained stable amid subdued trading. State-owned enterprises in China maintained a firm buying stance. Outside China, bank senior papers remained favored by investors, with duration plays benefiting from high all-in rates and sporadic buying in the 30-year curves. However, liquidity on the offer side remains challenging across most benchmarks.

ASIA HIGH YIELD (HY)

In China HY, Macau gaming saw a slight decline at market open due to net selling by institutional accounts. Despite Hibor rising to 2%, there was no selling pressure on Hong Kong high-yield corporate perpetual bonds amid unwind FX trades. In the Indian HY market, buyers showed interest in short-dated Vedanta bonds, while renewable names and the Adani curve experienced some profit-taking.

Forex Market Updates

USD

The US Dollar gained on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump hosted talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine, and traders pared bets on a September rate cut before a speech on Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday before holding talks with the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO. Trump said that the United States would "help out" Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end the war in Ukraine and expressed hope that Monday's summit could eventually lead to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that he believes Putin wants the war to end. The European leaders will meet with Trump afterwards in the White House's East Room at 3 p.m. EDT, according to the White House.

The Dollar Index is likely to see some near term consolidation around the 98.00 handle.

NZD

The New Zealand dollars inched higher in range-bound trade on Monday with markets already fully priced for a cut in kiwi interest rates this week, but less sure about the prospect of yet more easing afterward. Swaps imply a near 100% chance the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will cut its official cash rate a quarter point to 3.00% on Wednesday, bringing its easing cycle so far to a whopping 250 basis points. Investors are also wagering there might be one further cut to 2.75% by early next year, so all eyes will be on the central bank's projected path for the OCR. Debt markets are priced for a dovish outlook given two-year swap rates are near their lowest since early 2022, making them vulnerable should the RBNZ signal a high bar to further easing.

The Kiwi looks to be trading within the range of 0.5860 to 0.6000. 

CAD

The Canadian dollar was barely changed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices rose and investors awaited domestic inflation data that could guide expectations for the Bank of Canada policy outlook. Canada's consumer price index report for July is due on Tuesday. Economists expect the annual rate of increase in consumer prices to ease to 1.8% from 1.9% in June, but measures of underlying inflation that are closely tracked by the BoC are forecast to remain well above the central bank's 2% target. Investors see a 68% chance that the BoC would leave interest rates unchanged at its next policy decision on September 17. The central bank has been on hold since lowering the benchmark rate to 2.75% in March. Canadian housing starts unexpectedly rose in July, advancing 4% from the previous month, data from the national housing agency showed.

The Loonie looks poised to continue range-trading between 1.3700 and 1.3880 for the time being.

XAU

Gold prices were largely steady on Monday, as investors focused on U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian and European leaders, and the Federal Reserve's annual symposium in Jackson Hole this week. Minutes from the U.S. central bank's July policy meeting are due on Wednesday, ahead of the Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, scheduled for August 21–23. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak at the event. Investors will be watching out for Powell's remarks on the economic outlook. Traders pared bets on a cut at the Fed’s September 16-17 meeting after producer price inflation was hotter than expected in July. They had ramped up bets on a cut after consumer price inflation data for last month showed limited pass through from the trade levies. Fed fund futures traders are now pricing in a 83% probability of a September rate cut, after last week briefly fully pricing in a move.

Bullion prices are likely to remain well-supported above 3270 for the time being.

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