Thematic (Sector/Industry)

• The obesity problem has escalated at an alarming rate in Asia. 
• Expect strong growth for GLP-1s over the next few years, however, companies that produce next-generation drugs will take the lead.
• The significant increase in newly approved drugs will result in margin pressure – pricing will be key.

• US stocks recovered on Friday after a blow-out US jobs report. However, US 10 year yields ended the week up 19bps at 4.4%
• Japanese stocks sank for a second week as tech stocks came under selling pressure
• The 10% move in Sumitomo Metal Mining on higher copper prices highlights strength in global economy and perhaps sign of renewed growth in China

• The Global Emerging Markets Weekly summarizes the key news and related developments impacting the largest countries and constituents of the Global Emerging Markets equity indices.
• Macro data points:China PMI, South Korean exports, and inflation.
• Companies mentioned:Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) (2330 TT), NIO (9866 HK), SK Hynix (000660 KS)

• US large banks weekly data shows loan growth now turning to negative, not a positive outlook for bank earnings or core income
• C&I loan growth is more negative than other major segments, suggesting limited demand, but also risk-aversion by banks
• Even where Jumbo Time Deposits growth is now only 59% YoY there is still likely to be major pressure on banks’ funding costs

•  ADX Energy (ADX AU)C; target price of A$1.00 per share: Sample analysis at Welchau – Compositional analysis of a gas sample at Welchau shows 92 mole % methane, 4 mole % ethane with low CO2 and no H2S.
• Criterium Energy (CEQ CN)C; target price of C$0.30 per share: Growth within cashflow – The FY24 guidance reflects a self-funded development and debt repayment programme.
• While a reduced capital programme, we believe this is a prudent strategy with upside optionality should additional funds from the Bulu sale or higher oil prices materialize.

• Penang is experiencing a new boom in semiconductor chip manufacturing, attracting investment from international companies
• Malaysia has a 50-year history in the semiconductor supply chain, with a focus on the back end processes such as packaging, assembly, and testing
• Malaysia is capitalizing on the US-China chip war and emerging as an unexpected winner in the global supply chain, receiving $12.8 billion in foreign direct investment in 2023

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

• U.S. stocks experienced significant volatility with the Dow Jones plunging 530.16 points, marking its worst session since March 2023.
• Foreign investment in Japanese stocks hit a 10-year peak in fiscal 2023, reaching 7.69 trillion yen, driven by the UK, South Korea, and China.
• Nihon M&A Center Holdings [2127] plans to invest in “Korea M&A Exchange” (KMX), aligning with succession needs in Japan and South Korea.

• A number of China’s conventional carmakers have launched or announced new hybrid models in an attempt to capitalize on the growing popularity of the cars as range anxiety persists among customers curious about going electric.
• State-owned automaker Dongfeng Motor Group Co. Ltd. on Saturday unveiled the Aeolus L7 SUV, which it touted as the first model built with its novel hybrid car technology that allows the vehicle to operate as either a plug-in hybrid or an extended-range hybrid.
• Plug-in hybrids use batteries to power an electric motor and fossil fuels to power an internal combustion engine. While on the road, they can use fuel, battery power or a mix of the two to run.

• China’s economic data is continuing to surprise on the upside.
• Investors are starting to take notice and good news is not being ignored – a sign of a change in sentiment.
• Economically sensitive and commodity-related sectors a good hunting ground for absolute returns

• U.S. stocks closed mixed Wednesday as investors pondered Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments alongside robust economic data, hinting at prolonged higher rates
• Taiwan experienced a significant earthquake originating off its eastern coast, prompting TSMC, the world’s top semiconductor company, to halt operations on some manufacturing equipment
• Itochu Corp (8001) unveils a robust business plan for fiscal year 2025, targeting increased dividends and share buybacks to raise its total payout ratio

• A major earthquake struck Taiwan on April 3, where 25-30% of the world’s semiconductor wafers are produced
• Most semiconductor fabs are far away from the earthquake’s epicenter
• Those companies that have issued statements indicate that damage was slight, but there is still likely to be a shortage, which should boost chip maker profitability through 2024

• NTES US/1024 HK: The NPPA has released the approval results for domestic online games in March.(+/+)
• BABA US/JD US/PDD US /1024 HK: Alibaba to start charging live-streaming commissions (+)
• 241 HK: Alibaba Health updates its guidance for fiscal year 2023-24 and fiscal year 2024-25, introducing Alimama advertising revenue, but it is still not cheap（/）

• 1810 HK/1211 HK: Xiaomi SU7 pre order conversion rate estimated to be about 20-30%, reopening the Founder’s Edition to increase the conversion rate（///）
• 1810 HK: Zeekr 001 exceeded 30,000 in the first month of its launch. Zeekr + SU7 may have the biggest impact on Tesla and BBA（/）
• 1810 HK/1211 HK/XPEV/ TSLA: Su7’s aggressive pricing impacts ICE vehicles, Tesla, Zeekr, while also stimulating overall auto sales (//-/-/-)

• The government of Colombia seeks to accelerate the country’s path toward net zero emissions, while investors question the implications for the country’s oil & gas industry.
• This report is the third in a three-part WTR Energy Focus series on Colombia. It follows Oil & Gas Operators Guiding for Bottom-Up Growth… and Striking a Balance Between Energy Security and Fiscal Stability.
• Colombia’s natural gas demand will increase due to an energy transition and upstream operators with gas exposure realizing strong gas prices in an undersupplied market (as shown on right).

• This is the first edition of a quarterly summary piece to highlight my ideas and best pieces quarterly.
• This is one of the 16th-best quarters in SOXX since 2002. While it’s a pretty solid showing at a 17% quarterly return, this doesn’t compare to the incredible returns in 2020 and 2023.
• Now, the misleading thing is that SMH, a broader ETF, is up 30%.

• Stocks closed lower for a second consecutive day as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1% to settle at 39,170.24
• Workers at Japanese small and midsize manufacturers secured record wage hikes averaging 4.12% this year, influenced by wage increases exceeding 5% at larger firms
• Fast Retailing Co Ltd (9983) reports a 1.5% decline in UNIQLO same-store sales in Japan for March, attributed to cooler temperatures impacting spring clothing sales

• Our insight 2024 High Conviction: Junior Copper Miners garnered significant interest in late 2023, we hereby provide an update on our favorite junior copper names.
• Copper prices have started to to tick up (+5% YTD) on the back of gold making new all-time highs late in 1Q24, and more importantly squeezed global supply.
• Entree Resources (ETG CN) has performed strongest +22% while Arras Minerals (ARK V EQUITY) has been a laggard at -18% YTD.

• US stocks closed mixed to start the second quarter of 2024 amid rising US treasury yields
• In Japan, 191 companies announced stock splits in the fiscal year, up 60% from last year, aiming to attract retail investors by lowering prices
• Tokyo Electron Ltd. [8035] will provide an additional 590 billion yen ($3.89 billion) in support to chipmaker Rapidus in fiscal 2024

• Following a long period of consolidation, gold broke out in March, hitting record highs, and continuing to push higher as we enter April.
• Silver and copper also had strong months up 10% and 4%, respectively.
• More notably, we are finally seeing the equities outperform their underlying metal price with the GDX, SIL, and COPX up 22.7%, 21.1% and 19.4%, respectively, significantly outperforming broader markets.

• The WTR Sustainable Index was up by 1.5% W/W versus the S&P 500 Index (up 0.4%), the Russell 2000 Index (up 2.5%), and the Nasdaq Index (down 0.5%).
• Energy Technology (13.2% of the index) was up by 4.1%, while Industrial Climate and Ag Technology (56.8% of the index) was up by 1.3%, ClimateTech Mining was down 3.5%, and Advanced Transportation Solutions (24.0% of index) was up 1.0%.
• Top 10 Performers: KULR, OUST, NKLA, CRGE, SUNW, SX, NVVE, REX, SLDP, EXRO

• Taiwan companies are required to report revenue on a monthly basis. These updates can help us understand how a given quarter is progressing & predict quarterly earnings ahead of time
• Initially we focused on MoM %  increase/decrease. This is useful, but one needs to account for anomalies such as seasonality and potential non-linearity month to month within a given quarter 
• We now also provide the monthly YoY revenue comparison. This eliminates anomalies due to both seasonality and intra-quarter non-linearity, enabling a clearer perspective on where the industry is at. 

• The personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes food and energy, rose by 2.8% YoY, meeting expectations. Compared to the previous month, it also went up by 0.3%, as predicted.
• The ratio of cashless payments to total consumption in Japan hit a record high of 39.3% in 2023, marking a 3.3 percentage point increase from the previous year
• Denso announced its decision to divest all Toyota Industries shares; Miura Kogyo announced its acquisition of Cleaver-Brooks, a US-based company  

• This note is a weekly curated selection of Chinese news articles and company announcements focused on developers in distress
• We look for their deals, updates, specific project progress news (‘local signals’), as well as relevant local research commentaries about the market
• We do not verify the underlying data or provide any opinion, we only select and summarize the information; See direct links to sources

• It’s probably not a good idea to chase the AI mania surge by buying the likes of NVIDIA, AMD, Micron etc at their currently highly elevated share prices
• Taiwan has a large ecosystem of semiconductor companies many of which are critical to the AI hardware supply chain
• We present a range of options with exposure to AI hardware for your consideration including foundry, fabless IC design, server BMC & Copper Clad Laminate

• Recent trends in the most viewed local brokerage research reports by Korean institutions, compiled by FnGuide, offer insights into current investor interests.
• Notable resurgence in local institution interest in the semiconductor sector, especially with the temporal gap until May when the Value-up momentum materializes, notably evident in the AI semiconductor rally companies.
• Local institutions typically follow stocks of their interest with a slight lag. This suggests potential positive flows in the listed semiconductor companies until the Value-up momentum solidifies in May.

• The broader Topix index declined by 1.6% on the week, but remains up 17% year-to-date.
• Shares in Koito rose 26% after the company unveiled a new MTP and a substantial ¥50 billion stock buyback program.
• We believe that the med-tech space is worth watching. Nippon Active Value, Asset Value Investors and ValueAct are all now involved in the space. 

• LI/ 1211 HK/ XPEV/ NIO: In the 12th week of 2024, new energy vehicles continued to maintain steady growth, BYD once again led and Li fell behind again（///////）
• 1211 HK : China to challenge Biden’s electric vehicle plans at the WTO (+)
• NIO US: NIO US revised down C1Q24 delivery target. (+)

• NTES：Source stated that NetEase is developing a 6V6 Marvel IP third-person shooter game.（+）
• BABA US : Analyst Call hosted by Alibaba regarding the withdrawal of the Cainiao IPO？（/）
• BABA US : Alibaba to launch LLM for advertising. (+)

• US Market Wrap: S&P 500 hits record, Dow inches higher; tech stocks lag.
• Japan Budget: Parliament passes ¥112 trillion budget, emphasizing defense spending, inflation mitigation, and earthquake recovery.
• Stocks Update: Mercari introduces Eco Mercari Delivery; Kubota’s construction equipment business grows; Mitsubishi Electric expands digital workforce.

• ADX Energy (ADX AU)C; target price of A$1.00 per share: Logging results at Welchau further derisk the discovery – The logging program has confirmed open fracture networks and vuggy porosity (matrix porosity) essential for well productivity coincident with hydrocarbon shows between 1346 m and 1702 m measured depth.
• This represents 356 m of gross interval across three interpreted lithological sequences.
• This compares with only 115 m of liquids-rich gas shows announced previously.

• 1810 HK: Multiple reports show that Xiaomi‘s new car reservations very popular, but is it effective to skip professional test drives and directly market to the car buyers?（/）
• ATAT: Atour tests a 50% discount promotion on Sunday, bodes well for occupancy rates and revenue.(+)
• LI/1810 HK/XPEV/NIO/1211 HK:The Cyberspace Administration of China publishes regulations on cross-border data flows, which may clear the way for Tesla FSD to enter China（////-/-//）

• US stocks rebounded Wednesday, with the S&P 500 setting a new record and the Dow surging over 475 points.
• Japan plans to ease residency rules for foreign entrepreneurs, expanding eligible funding sources to meet capital requirements, often challenging for startups.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011) aims to develop a next-generation airliner by 2035, involving multiple private-sector companies.

• Semiconductor Sector Hits Historic Highs: Record allocations highlight investor confidence in the sector as second phase of bull market drives allocations to fresh peak.
• Country Dynamics Shift: Peak Ownership in Taiwan, USA, Netherlands, while German Semiconductor holdings see strategic pullback through Infineon closures.  
• TSMC, ASML, and NVIDIA establish dominance, reflecting investors’ preference for companies at the forefront of technological innovation, while traditional players like Infineon, Intel, and Texas Instruments face declining investor interest.

• BABA/BIDU: Alibaba and Baidu follow up on long text LLM, the rise of startups is negative for Baidu（//-）
• BIDU: Apple and Baidu Held Talks on Ernie Bot Pre-Installing IPhone IOS18（+）
• BABA/PDD: Alibaba opens direct from factory 1688 store on Taobao (+/-)