MR DIY is scheduled to release its earnings results this week
Earnings season
CORPORATE earnings will dominate this week in the absence of key economic data.
Some of the companies expected to announce their earnings are MISC Bhd
, MR DIY Group (M) Bhd, Gas Malaysia Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd.
Monetary policy
BANK Indonesia (BI) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are scheduled to announce their monetary policy this week.
According to a Bloomberg poll, four analysts expect the BI policy rate to be unchanged at 5.75%, while a lone analyst expects it to be hiked by 25 basis points (bps) to 6%.
UOB Global Economics & Markets Research kept its BI rate forecast for a terminal rate of 6% that is likely to occur this month, though there is an increasing risk that January’s rate hike might be the last one for the current hiking cycle.
ING said BI could still opt to hike by 25 bps given renewed hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, while also ensuring core inflation heads much lower before pausing.
According to a Bloomberg poll, five analysts expect BSP to hike 25 bps to 5.75%, while two expect a more aggressive 50-bps hike to 6%.
Singapore GDP
SINGAPORE will release its fourth-quarter 2022 (4Q22) gross domestic product (GDP) numbers today.
The island-republic’s GDP grew by 2.2% in 4Q22 and by 3.8% in 2022, according to the advance estimates.
UOB expects Singapore’s full-year 2022 GDP to be revised 0.1 percentage point lower to 3.7% (from 3.8%).
Meanwhile, the 2023 Singapore budget will be delivered by Finance Minister Lawrence Wong tomorrow.
