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Real-time News
On April 2, market research firm Omdia reported that the annual revenue of the semiconductor market surged by about 25% to $683 billion in 2024. This sharp growth was attributed to strong demand for AI-related chips, especially high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI GPUs, which led to an annual growth rate of 74% in the memory field. After a challenging 2023, the rebound in memory helped boost the overall market. However, this record year masked an uneven performance across the industry. The data processing sector grew strongly, while other key sectors such as automotive, consumer and industrial semiconductors saw revenue declines in 2024. These struggles highlight the weak links in the originally booming market.On April 2, DBS published a research report indicating that the restructuring of Agile (03383.HK) is ongoing, and as a valuable overseas asset in which it holds 45% of the shares, A-Life (03319.HK) may be included in the overseas restructuring plan, and part of the outstanding overseas debts may be offset through credit enhancement or debt-to-equity swaps. Therefore, the restructuring of Agile will put pressure on the share price of A-Life in the near future. In addition, there is still uncertainty as to whether the uncollected receivables from third parties and related parties can be recovered. Considering the limited profit prospects, based on the downward revision of revenue and profit margin forecasts, DBS further lowered the profit forecast of A-Life for this year and next year by 21% to 25%, maintaining the hold rating, and the target price was raised from HK$2.6 to HK$3.Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects the yen to climb to the bottom of the 140 range against the dollar this year as unease about U.S. economic growth and trade tariffs boost demand for the safest assets. Kamakshya Trivedi, head of global foreign exchange, interest rates and emerging market strategy at Goldman Sachs, said the yen would provide investors with the best currency hedging tool if the likelihood of a U.S. recession increases. Reaching the 140 level would mean a 7% increase from current levels, and the banks forecast is more optimistic than the median of 145 in the agencys survey of analysts. "The yen tends to perform best when U.S. real interest rates and U.S. stocks fall at the same time," Trivedi said.Hong Kong-listed auto stocks fluctuated upward, with Leapmotor (09863.HK) rising more than 9%, Geely Auto (00175.HK) rising nearly 5%, NIO (09866.HK) and Li Auto (02015.HK) both rising more than 1%.Asian stocks swung on Wednesday, with safe-haven gold hovering near record highs as the world nervously awaited details of Trumps tariff plan and investors worried about the risk of an intensifying global trade war. "We find that our trading environment is volatile, with price swings in the market driven by market participants adjusting their risk exposure on the margins and unwilling to make commitments," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone. "Trump called April 2 Liberation Day, but investors are unlikely to be truly free from the uncertainty of tariffs," said Vasu Menon, managing director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank in Singapore. "If other countries retaliate, Trump could raise the stakes -- a possibility that could continue to make investors nervous."
