Weekly Market Update - 6 February 2023
Tension Rising
This weekend was supposed to be a step forward in ties between the US and China, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken arriving in Beijing for the first such visit in more than four years. But after an F-22 Raptor blasted an alleged Chinese spy balloon out of the sky off the coast of South Carolina it was spent instead trading barbs. Beijing’s abrupt shift from expressing regret about the balloon’s flight to threatening retaliation over US action highlights the need for Xi to show he’s standing up for China against external pressure.
Source: Bloomberg
Meta Rally
A spectacular turnaround in Meta stock is bringing back flashes of big tech heydays. The Facebook owner’s stock surged 23%, its biggest jump since 2013, to help it briefly trade over $500 billion in market capitalization. The latest rally comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to make the company leaner. Other big tech news wasn’t quite so good. Apple reported a steeper sales decline than Wall Street feared, Amazon projected lackluster revenue in the current quarter, and Google shares slipped after fourth-quarter results narrowly missed analysts’ expectations.
Source: Bloomberg
Visit Hong Kong
Hong Kong will hand out 500,000 free air tickets to bring in much-needed visitors as part of a global publicity campaign. The city’s leader John Lee announced the giveaway at the launch of “Hello Hong Kong.” The giveaway will begin at the start of March and last six months and will involve various ways to win tickets, such as a lottery system and two-for-one purchases. The government is seeking to repair Hong Kong’s global image which was damaged by violent protests in 2019, the imposition of tough security laws in 2020 and three years of self-imposed isolation during the pandemic.
Source: Bloomberg