Han Khim Siew, CEO of the Singapore OUE Real Estate Investment Trust, says "we don't want to over-hedge at this point in time."
Tag: Asia Economy
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Nvidia supplier SK Hynix posts highest quarterly profit in 6 years on AI chip leadership
A man walks past a logo of SK Hynix at the lobby of the company’s Bundang office in Seongnam on January 29, 2021.
Jung Yeon-Je | AFP | Getty Images
SK Hynix, one of the world’s largest memory chipmakers, on Thursday said second-quarter profit hit its highest level in 6 years as it maintains its leadership in advanced memory chips critical for artificial intelligence computing.
Here are SK Hynix’s second-quarter results compared with LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:
- Revenue: 16.42 trillion Korean won (about $11.86 billion), vs. 16.4 trillion Korean won
- Operating profit: 5.47 trillion Korean won, vs. 5.4 trillion Korean won
Operating profit in the June quarter hit its highest level since the second quarter of 2018, rebounding from a loss of 2.88 trillion won in the same period a year ago.
Revenue from April to June increased 124.7% from 7.3 trillion won logged a year ago. This was the highest quarterly revenue ever in the firm’s history, according to LSEG data available since 2009.
SK Hynix on Thursday said that a continuous rise in overall prices of its memory products — thanks to strong demand for AI memory including high-bandwidth memory — led to a 32% increase in revenue compared with the previous quarter.
The South Korean giant supplies high-bandwidth memory chips catering to AI chipsets for companies like Nvidia.
Shares of SK Hynix fell as much as 7.81% Thursday morning.
The declines came as the South Korea’s Kospi index lost as much as 1.91% after U.S. tech stocks sold off overnight, following disappointing Alphabet and Tesla earnings. Those reports mark investors’ first look at how megacap companies fared during the second quarter.
“In the second half of this year, strong demand from AI servers are expected to continue as well as gradual recovery in conventional markets with the launch of AI-enabled PC and mobile devices,” the firm said in its earnings call on Thursday.
Capitalizing on the strong AI demand, SK Hynix plans to “continue its leadership in the HBM market by mass-producing 12-layer HBM3E products.”
The company would begin mass production of the 12-layer HBM3E this quarter after providing samples to major customers and expects to ship to customers by fourth quarter.
Tight supply
Memory leaders like SK Hynix have been aggressively expanding HBM capacity to meet the booming demand for AI processors.
HBM requires more wafer capacity than regular dynamic random access memory products – a type of computer memory used to store data – which SK Hynix said is also struggling with tight supply.
“Investment needs are also rising to meet demand of conventional DRAM as well as HBM which requires more wafer capacity than regular DRAM. Therefore, this year’s capex level is expected to be higher than what we expected in the beginning of the year,” said SK Hynix.
“While overcapacity is expected to increase next year due to the increased industrial investment, a significant portion of it will be utilized to ramp up production of HBM. So the tight supply situation for conventional DRAM is likely to continue.”
SK Kim of Daiwa Capital Markets in a June 12 note said they expect “tight HBM and memory supply to persist until 2025 on a bottleneck in HBM production.”
“Accordingly, we expect a favourable price environment to continue and SK Hynix to record robust earnings in 2024-25, benefitting from its competitiveness in HBM for AI graphics processing unit and high-density enterprise SSD (eSSD) for AI-servers, leading to a rerating of the stock,” Kim said.
High-bandwidth memory chip supplies have been stretched thanks to explosive AI adoption fueled by large language models such as ChatGPT.
The AI boom is expected to keep supply of high-end memory chips tight this year, analysts have warned. SK Hynix and Micron in May said they are out of high-bandwidth memory chips for 2024, while the stock for 2025 is also nearly sold out.
Large language models require a lot of high-performance memory chips as such chips allow these models to remember details from past conversations and user preferences in order to generate humanlike responses.
SK Hynix has mostly led the high-bandwidth memory chip market, having been the sole supplier of HBM3 chips to Nvidia before rival Samsung reportedly cleared the tests for the use of its HBM3 chips in Nvidia processors for the Chinese market.
The firm said it expects to ship the next generation 12-layer HBM4 from the second half of 2025.
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Asia-Pacific markets climb, tracking gains on Wall Street; yen intervention suspected
Cherry trees in bloom near the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at record highs overnight as traders become increasingly bullish on interest rate cuts.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.23%, while the Topix was up 0.44% after the Reuters Tankan survey showed an increase in business optimism among large Japanese manufacturers.
The manufacturing index was at +11, up from +6 in the previous month. However, confidence among non-manufacturers dipped from +31 to +27.
Separately, Japanese authorities likely intervened in the currency market last Thursday and Friday, spending a total of 6 trillion yen ($37.9 billion) over the two days, according to Reuters.
The yen is currently at 158.3 against the U.S. dollar. The currency weakened to 161.82 last Wednesday before strengthening to as much as 157.41 the following day.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.29%, just shy of its all time high of 8,037.3 points.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading close to the flatline, and the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 0.14%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 17,843, higher than the HSI’s last close of 17,727.98.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports slipped more than expected in June, marking a fifth straight month of declines. They fell 8.7% year on year compared to a 1.2% decline expected by economists polled by Reuters.
On a month-on-month basis, Singapore’s non-oil domestic unexpectedly dropped 0.4%, compared with a expectations of a 4.1% growth.
Overnight, the Dow blue-chip index gained 1.85%, closing at 40,954.48, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.64% to wrap the day at 5,667.20. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.20%.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh contributed to this report.
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China is leading on GenAI experimentation, but lags U.S. in implementation, survey shows
An artificial intelligence concept displaying a business man working with a virtual display
Busakorn Pongparnit | Moment | Getty Images
Chinese companies are leading the way in the experimentation of generative AI, but they’re still behind the U.S. when it comes to full implementation, according to a new survey.
The survey — by AI analytics and software developer SAS Institute and market researcher Coleman Parkes — found that 64% of Chinese companies surveyed were running initial experiments on generative AI but had not yet fully integrated the tech into their business system.
In comparison, 58% of companies in the UK and 41% in the U.S. were still experimenting with it.
The survey respondents were decision-makers in GenAI strategy or data analytics in 1,600 organizations worldwide in key sectors, including banking, insurance, retail, and health care.
The U.S. tops the list in terms of integration of GenAI into their business process, with 24% of the companies having fully implemented the tech — compared to 19% in China and 11% in the UK.
Adoption referred to both experimentation and full implementation in the survey.
Chinese organizations are leading in the adoption of generative AI, with 83% of them either running initial tests or having fully implemented the technology. That’s much higher than the United Kingdom at 70%, followed by the United States at 65% and Australia at 63%.
“While China may lead in GenAI adoption rates, higher adoption doesn’t necessarily equate to effective implementation or better returns,” said Stephen Saw, managing director at Coleman Parkes.
To tap the full benefits of generative AI, it must be fully integrated into production systems and processes at a company-wide level, according to Udo Sglavo, SAS’s vice president of Applied AI & Modeling Research and Development.
U.S. vs. China ecosystem
The U.S. has some advantages in the integration of generative AI, including a more mature ecosystem and a large pool of highly skilled AI professionals and researchers, according to SAS’s Sglavo.
The country has a “culture of innovation,” strong AI leadership from private companies, and a predictable and transparent regulatory environment compared to other regions, he added.
Still, the survey indicated that China is well positioned to catch up in full implementation and maturity.
Respondents in China were most confident in their preparation to adhere to AI regulations, with almost a fifth stating they were fully prepared, compared to 14% in the U.S.
Of the Chinese respondents surveyed, about 31% said they don’t have the appropriate tools, and only 21% said they lack the internal expertise to do so.
AI experts have previously told CNBC that China was on the cutting edge of rolling out generative AI regulations, having been working on them even before the popularity of OpenAI’s Chat GPT shot the technology into the mainstream in 2022.
Chinese regulators have also worked to crack down on the potential for generative AI to create content that may violate Beijing’s ideology and censorship policies.
While that has made Chinese tech companies more cautious about launching their own ChatGPT-like services, it has also pushed them toward focusing on enterprise and narrow generative AI uses.
This has contributed to China dominating the global race in generative artificial intelligence patents, filing more than 38,000 patents from 2014 to 2023, a United Nations report showed last week.
Meanwhile, China’s large population and rapidly growing digital economy means there’s a high demand for these AI technologies, according to Sglavo.
“This high demand has pushed companies to quickly adopt and integrate GenAI solutions — including applications in e-commerce, health care, education and manufacturing — where AI is used to enhance efficiency and innovation,” he said.
Beijing has also pushed out several initiatives aimed at boosting domestic AI use and infrastructure. In May, the country launched a three-year plan to strengthen standards in AI chips and generative AI and to build up national AI computing power.
“Because the Chinese government has put a focus on AI, Chinese companies are following that guidance by rapidly adopting the many facets of AI inside their organizations,” Sglavo added.
Generative AI outlook
Overall, the survey highlighted how important the use of generative AI is becoming across all regions and industries.
It found that organizations that have embraced generative AI are seeing significant improvements, with about 90% reporting improved satisfaction and about 80% saying they are saving on operational costs.
In order to tap these benefits, about one in 10 global businesses will dedicate a budget to generative AI in the next financial year — led by Asia-Pacific at 94%, the report said.
Wei Sun, senior consultant of artificial research at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” last week that the U.S. has overtaken China in the first round of AI in terms of AI chips and foundational large language model advancement.
The second round, however, will be about innovating the technology for more specific data sets and applications for consumers, businesses, and industries, she added.
According to a 2023 report from McKinsey, generative AI could add the equivalent of between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually in value across the 63 business use cases.
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Asia-Pacific markets open higher ahead of business activity data from the region
A block of industrial factories sits among newer apartment buildings along a canal in Tokyo, Japan.
Photo By Michael Russell | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Wednesday, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted progress on inflation, but reiterated patience on cutting rates at a central banking forum.
Traders in Asia await June business activity data from India, Japan and China which is set for release later in the day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.45% extending its run above the 40,000 mark, while the broad-based Topix was up 0.11%.
South Korea’s Kospi started the morning up 0.50%, while the Kosdaq Index rose 0.8%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 opened up 0.17% in early trade.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 17,764, lower than the HSI’s last close of 17,769.14.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.41%, the S&P 500 gained 0.62%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.84%. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit record high closes.
Tesla shares helped lift the S&P 500 after Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company beat expected deliveries for the second quarter.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
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Yen weakens past 160 against the dollar, reigniting intervention speculation
Sheets of newly-designed Japanese 10,000 yen banknotes move through a machine at the National Printing Bureau Tokyo plant in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Persistent weakness in the yen is raising concerns about the potential for a resurgence in cost-push inflation, likely weighing on private consumption.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Japanese yen hit a near-38 year low against the U.S. dollar late Wednesday, raising expectations that authorities could intervene in currency markets again.
The yen weakened to 160.82 against the greenback according to FactSet data, breaching the previous record of 160.03 on April 29 and reaching its weakest level since 1986.
The last time the yen crossed the 160 level, the currency subsequently strengthened sharply during the trading session, prompting analysts to speculate about an intervention.
Japan’s Ministry of Finance later confirmed the intervention in May, saying that it had spent 9.7885 trillion yen ($62.25 billion) on currency intervention between April 26 and May 29, according to a Google-translated statement.
That was the first time that the Japanese government has undertaken such a market measure since October 2022, according to ministry records.
Carol Kong, economist and currency strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is of the view that “we may be closer to another FX intervention.”
She also said that the U.S. May personal consumption expenditures data — set to be released on Friday — might provide a catalyst for Japan to intervene if it is stronger than expected and pushes the USD/JPY pair sharply higher.
Kong noted the continued decline in the yen prompted Japan country’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda to step up warnings.
Reuters reported that Kanda said Japanese authorities were “seriously concerned and on high alert” about the yen’s rapid decline.
“It is generally accepted that the current weakness in the yen is not necessarily justified, therefore believed to be driven by speculators,” Kanda told reporters on Wednesday. He added that authorities “have been preparing to act against excessive volatility.”
— CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
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Asia-Pacific markets mostly rise ahead of Australia’s May inflation data
Sydney Harbour taking in the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and ferries at sunrise during the COVID-19 pandemic on April 20, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.
James D. Morgan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Wednesday as investors anticipate Australia’s inflation numbers for May and Singapore’s May manufacturing output data.
Australia’s core inflation rate is expected to come in at 3.8% in May, according to a Reuters poll of economists. This is higher than the 3.6% recorded in April.
Should inflation come in higher than expected and spur the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise rates, it would be the first major Asia-Pacific central bank to do so in an environment where investors are waiting for rate cuts, barring Japan. RBA Governor Michelle Bullock recently revealed the central bank discussed hiking rates at its last meeting.
The RBA has two inflation readings to consider — June 26 and July 31— before its next meeting on Aug. 6.
Singapore’s May factory output will also be released Wednesday, with a Reuters poll of economists predicting a 2% year-on-year growth rate, as compared to a 1.6% decline recorded in April.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.70% Wednesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.50% in morning trade while the broad-based Topix was up marginally. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.16% while the small-cap Kosdaq traded close to the flatline.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 17,958, lower than the HSI’s last close of 18,072.9.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined, shedding 0.76% and closing at 39,112.16. Led by an Nvidia rebound, the broad market S&P 500 added 0.39% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.26%, with both indexes ending three-day losing streaks.
— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
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Japan stocks rise after cooler-than-expected core inflation data; India’s Nifty hits fresh record
Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Photographer: Kentaro Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday after Japan’s May core inflation data came in slightly cooler than expected.
The country’s core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — came in at 2.5%. A Reuters poll of economists expected the May core inflation reading to come in at 2.6%, compared with April’s 2.2%.
The so-called “core-core” inflation, which strips out prices of fresh food and energy, came in at 2.1%. This is lower than April’s reading of 2.4%. The metric is considered by the Bank of Japan when formulating the country’s monetary policy.
Japan’s headline rate rose to 2.8%, higher than April’s figure of 2.5%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.03%, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.21%.
Softbank — the third heaviest weighted stock on the index — saw shares drop 2.87% after Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said the company needed “immense capital” to develop AI robotics.
The yen weakened for a seventh straight day, declining to 158.95 against the U.S. dollar.
Japan’s chief currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, said the government was ready to make a move against the volatile currency market that has hurt the economy, Reuters reported.
The U.S. Treasury Department placed Japan on its currency “Monitoring List,” but did not classify it as a currency manipulator.
India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index gained 0.1% to hit a new record high.
HSBC flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for India rose to 60.9 in June from 60.5 in May. The data complied by S&P Global showed that growth was stronger at goods producers compared to service providers.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.94%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.54%.
Separately, the country announced that the finance ministers of South Korea and Japan will meet on June 25 to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as well as their views on the global economy. The meeting will be held two months after both parties agreed to manage excessive currency volatilities during their meeting in Washington.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 dipped 0.60%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.71%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ticked up 0.18%
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 closed 0.25 % lower after hitting a new high. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.79%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.77%. Nvidia slipped 3.5% after rising earlier in the trading day.
—CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Brian Evans contributed to this report.
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India wants to be a developed nation by 2047. Here are 4 critical areas Modi can’t ignore
[ad_2]India has undergone a massive infrastructure push and has made significant strides in connecting and modernizing its highways, railways and airports.
Puneet Vikram Singh, Nature And Concept Photographer, | Moment | Getty Images
For the last two years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken confidently about his ambitious goal to make India a developed economy by 2047.
All eyes will now be on Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance to see if they can keep the economic momentum going and continue to improve the lives of millions in their third consecutive term in office.
Confidence in the BJP has plunged. Modi’s ruling party failed to win an outright majority in the lower house of Parliament for the first time since 2014, and is now forced to rely on its allies in the coalition.
“The government will have to find common ground and build consensus on multiple fronts, not just with alliance partners but also with other stakeholder groups, to push through key legislation in parliament and quell the rising anti-incumbency sentiment nationwide,” said Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.
“A failure to do so could also result in further political setbacks for the ruling party in the next round of state elections scheduled for later in the year,” she warned.
A Modi-led coalition won't likely derail India's economic and development, analysts say. However, they point out that the new government will now have to restore faith in the people and ensure India's standing in the Global South remains.
The new government has yet to outline its key priorities. Analysts, however, are predicting that these four areas will feature high on the agenda.
1. Infrastructure push
India has undergone a massive infrastructure push and has made significant strides in connecting and modernizing its highways, railways and airports.
Last year, consultancy firm EY projected that India will become a $26 trillion economy by 2047, and highlighted that building up the country's infrastructure capabilities will be pivotal in making this happen.
"Since Modi's been in office, he's done his utmost to build ports, railways, and all kinds of hardline infrastructure to make business fluid. He's going to double down on that," said Samir Kapadia, CEO of India Index and managing principal at Vogel Group.
India still lags China in this area, and more needs to be done if it is seeking high-growth trajectory to continue attracting foreign investors.
At the interim budget in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman estimated capital expenditure will rise by 11.1% to 11.11 trillion Indian rupees ($133.9 billion) in the fiscal year 2025, largely focused on constructing railways and airports.
New tetrapods being placed after the completion of the construction of a coastal road, ahead of the monsoon in Mumbai, India, on June 11, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
But improving connectivity between cities should not be the only area of focus, noted Santanu Sengupta, India economist at Goldman Sachs.
"Along with creating physical infrastructure, India needs to remain steadfast on the structural reforms ... It needs to look at land and unlock land to set up more infrastructure in terms of factories," Sengupta told CNBC, adding that this will drive jobs growth in the sector.
However, analysts highlighted the government might face pushback on this as Modi's weakened hand could make it more tedious to acquire land for projects.
"Such targets may be more difficult if state-level parties have a quasi-veto due to the coalition structure," said Richard Rossow, senior advisor and chair in U.S.-India policy studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
2. Enhance manufacturing
Employees work on a mobile phone assembly line at Padget Electronics, a subsidiary of Dixon Technologies, in Noida, India, on Friday, March 22, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Projections from Counterpoint Research and the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association show that India's semiconductor industry will be valued at $64 billion by 2026, a three-fold growth from $23 billion in 2019.
"This will probably be the biggest breadwinner for India over the next five to 10 years," Kapadia said. "Modi firmly believes that if India is able to be in the semiconductor manufacturing business and if he gets it right, India can become an economy that will not be fussed with."
3. Fight high unemployment
Unemployment is currently one of the biggest problem's the world's most populous country is facing, and a mismatch in skills is further exacerbating this issue, Sumedha Gupta, senior analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit said.
"There is already a mismatch between the skill level of the country's workers and the demand for high innovation from employers. This will persist definitely over this decade, possibly into the 2030s as well," she told CNBC.
Unemployment rate in India rose to 8.1% in April from 7.4% in March, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
A survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in April, ahead of the election, showed that unemployment was the top concern for 27% of the 10,000 surveyed. More than half (62%) of those surveyed said it had become more difficult to find a job in the last five years during Modi's second term.
Construction workers in Mumbai, India, on June 5, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
It is now up to the new coalition government to improve local education standards and skills-based training to ensure people are gainfully employed in the right sectors, analysts highlighted.
"While those with advanced education and practical experience are poised to secure jobs in this sector, creating widespread, equitable employment opportunities requires a more inclusive approach," said Vivek Prasad, markets leader at PwC India.
New education policies and vocational training will "engage individuals at all levels of the manufacturing value chain, ensuring that the benefits of economic progress are shared across society," Prasad told CNBC, adding that boosting the employment of women is paramount to driving India's growth.
4. Increase foreign investments
From veteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius to global strategist David Roche, market experts remain bullish on India.
The National Stock Exchange of India has a total market capitalization of $4.9 trillion — the third largest in Asia-Pacific, according to data from the World Federation of Exchanges. India's market cap is projected to grow to $40 trillion in the next two decades.
Benchmark indexes Nifty 50 and the Sensex have been strong outperformers this year — respectively rising by 8% and 7% year-to-date, according to LSEG data.
Foreign direct investments into the country needs to however pick up pace to further drive economic growth and development, analysts told CNBC.
Foreign direct investments into India last year were relatively soft due to a difficult private equity funding environment as a result of high U.S. interest rates, said Goldman Sachs' Sengupta said.
"India will likely attract more FDI inflows from the U.S. once interest rates soften and the funding environment becomes easier," Sengupta told CNBC.
Ease of investing in India also "has some ways to go" in order to continue attracting foreign funds, noted Prabhat Ojha, partner and head of Asia client business at Cambridge Associates.
He recommended investors pay more attention to India's banking sector — one that now has good quality growth and capital allocation practices.
"From 2017 to 2019, there was really a cleanup of Indian banks and they are in a very healthy state today," Ojha told CNBC.
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Goldman Sachs says it prefers Indian private banks to public sector banks
Rahul Jain of the investment bank discusses the landscape of India’s banking sector and what investors should look out for.
03:41
2 hours ago
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No ‘quick fix’ to help stabilize the Chinese economy: HSBC
Frederic Neumann of HSBC expects a ‘measured approach’ by the chinese authorities to stabilize China’s property sector.
04:48
Mon, Jun 17 20243:49 AM EDT
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The best banks in the Asia-Pacific region, according to customers
[ad_2]SINGAPORE — Customers in Asia-Pacific have picked their favorite banks as lenders scramble to meet consumer expectations in a fast-changing environment.
After a prolonged period of high inflation — and interest rates — banks in the region are starting to navigate the global trend of lower rates. They're also facing technological innovation that has the potential to transform the sector, as generative AI gains traction around the world.
Against this backdrop, CNBC and market research firm Statista surveyed 22,000 individuals with a checking or savings account in 14 major economies. The report below — the first of its kind — is designed to highlight the banks that best meet consumer needs in their respective markets.
For the survey, participants evaluated their overall satisfaction with a bank, and whether they would recommend it to others. They also rated each based on five criteria: trust, terms and conditions (such as fees and rates), customer service, digital services and quality of financial advice. Read the full methodology here. The ranking only included banks that qualified according to the criteria described in the report.
See below to see which banks made the list in your location.
Australia
1 ING Group 2 Bank Australia 3 Westpac 4 Ubank 5 NAB 6 Alex Bank 7 Newcastle Permanent Building Society 8 People's Choice Credit Union 9 Beyond Bank 10 ME 11 Suncorp 12 MyState Bank 13 Australian Military Bank 14 Community First bank 15 Heritage Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Dutch bank ING came out top in Australia, against a sea of local competition. Like most economies, Australians valued trust the most and were less concerned on the financial advice they were given.
China
1 China Merchants Bank 2 Bank of China 3 ICBC 4 HSBC 5 China Construction Bank 6 Postal Savings Bank of China 7 China Minsheng Bank 8 Standard Chartered 9 SPD Bank 10 Bank of Communications 11 Agricultural Bank of China 12 UBS (China) Limited 13 JPMorgan Chase Bank (China) 14 China Everbright Bank 15 Ping An Bank 16 DBS Bank (China) 17 Bank of Suzhou 18 Bank of Jiangsu 19 Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank 20 Hang Seng Bank 21 Hubei Rural Credit Union Association 22 Huishang Bank 23 East West Bank 24 WeBank 25 Hankou Bank (HKB) Source: CNBC & Statista
China Merchants Bank, listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, earned the top spot in mainland China beating both domestic and foreign players.
Hong Kong
1 China Construction Bank 2 China Minsheng Bank 3 ICBC 4 SPD Bank 5 China Everbright Bank 6 Bank of Communication 7 HSBC 8 CGB 9 Livi Bank 10 China Merchants Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
China Construction Bank, one of China's four major state-owned banking institutions, was ranked the top lender over foreign players like HSBC.
India
1 ICICI Bank 2 HDFC Bank 3 Axis Bank 4 Kotak Mahindra Bank 5 State Bank of India 6 HSBC 7 Paytm Payments Bank 8 Standard Chartered 9 Federal Bank 10 IndusInd Bank 11 Union Bank of India 12 Karnataka Bank 13 Punjab National Bank 14 Bank of Baroda 15 Bandhan Bank 16 Fincare 17 DSCB 18 Kerala Gramin Bank 19 Fino Payments Bank 20 APCOB 21 Punjab Gramin Bank 22 IDFC First Bank 23 UCO Bank 24 RBLBank 25 New India Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
ICICI bank, a leading private sector bank in India, was the top pick in the country despite strong competition from mostly local lenders.
Indonesia
1 Bank Central Asia 2 Bank Mandiri 3 Sea Bank 4 Jago 5 Raya Bank 6 Bank Negara Indonesia 7 United Overseas Bank 8 PermataBank 9 Cimb Niaga 10 DBS 11 Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) 12 BNC 13 Bank Muamalat 14 Jenius 15 BCA Syariah 16 HSBC 17 BDP DIY 18 Bank Aceh 19 Standard Chartered 20 Bank Sumsel Babel Source: CNBC & Statista
Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's largest private commercial bank, beat the competition to clinch the top spot. Customers valued both trust as well as digital services in their ranking.
Japan
1 SBI Sumishin Net Bank 2 Rakuten Bank 3 Sony Bank 4 Aeon Bank 5 au Jibun Bank 6 PayPay Bank 7 Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation 8 Senshu Ikeda Bank 9 The Juhachi-Shinwa Bank 10 Iyo Bank 11 Ehime Bank 12 Japan Post Bank 13 Ja Bank 14 Kyushu Labor Bank 15 Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank 16 Keiyo Bank 17 Bank of Fukuoka 18 Shinsei Bank 19 The Nishi-Nippon City Bank 20 Aozora Bank 21 Saitama Resona Bank 22 MUFG Bank 23 Lawson Bank 24 Gunma Bank 25 Hachijuni Bank 26 Rokin Bank 27 Kiyo Bank 28 Tokyo Star Bank 29 The Bank of Okinawa 30 Kyoto Chuo Shinkin Bank 31 Abukuma Shinkin Bank 32 North Pacific Bank 33 Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank 34 Tottori Bank 35 Bank of Kyoto Source: CNBC & Statista
SBI Sumishin Net Bank, a Japan-based company, managed to beat other domestic lenders to come out top. Japanese citizens valued trust as their most important criteria.
Malaysia
1 Maybank 2 Standard Chartered 3 Maybank Islamic 4 HSBC 5 RHB Islamic Bank 6 Bank Islam 7 AmBank Group Islamic 8 OCBC Bank 9 United Overseas Bank 10 Hong Leong Islamic Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Maybank, which is the largest bank by market value in Malaysia, was the customers top pick against competition from domestic and foreign lenders.
New Zealand
1 Bank of New Zealand 2 ASB Bank 3 The Co-operative Bank 4 SBS Bank 5 Kiwibank Source: CNBC & Statista
Bank of New Zealand, one of New Zealand's big four banks, earned the top spot among consumers who also valued trust as the most important criteria. In some economies, like New Zealand, there are fewer competitors in the market and the size of the banking market differs, thus only five banks made the list.
Philippines
1 Philippine National Bank 2 Union Bank (Philippines) 3 Maya Bank 4 OFBank 5 UnionDigital Bank 6 UNO Digital Bank 7 GoTyme Bank 8 LANDBANK 9 Metrobank 10 BPI Source: CNBC & Statista
Philippine National Bank, one of the largest banks in the country, earned the top rank against competition from largely local lenders.
Singapore
1 DBS 2 HSBC 3 Citibank 4 Bank of Singapore 5 United Overseas Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Singapore's biggest bank DBS beat its domestic peers to clinch the top spot in the city-state. Given the small market size, there are fewer banking competitors as a result only five made the list.
South Korea
1 TossBank 2 KakaoBank 3 Kwangju Bank 4 K bank 5 Jeonbuk Bank 6 KB Kookmin Bank 7 Industrial Bank of Korea 8 DGB Daegu Bank 9 BNK Busan Bank 10 KEB Hana Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Toss Bank, an internet-only bank based in South Korea, managed to fend off domestic competition to emerge as top lender in the country.
Taiwan
1 E.Sun Financial 2 Bank SinoPac 3 Standard Chartered 4 CTBC Bank 5 Taipei Fubon Bank 6 Taishin International Bank 7 HSBC 8 Rakuten International Commercial Bank 9 Cathay Financial 10 Mega International Commercial Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Taiwan's E.Sun Financial, headquartered in Taipei, earned the top ranking with customers focused on trust and less concerned about financial advice.
Thailand
1 Kasikornbank 2 Siam Commercial Bank 3 Bank of Ayudhya 4 United Overseas Bank 5 Krung Thai Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Kasikornbank bank, Thailand's second-largest lender, came out top in the country. Only five banks made the list as there are fewer competitors and the size of banking market varies.
Vietnam
1 Techcombank 2 Vietcombank 3 BIDV 4 Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank 5 ACB 6 Vietinbank 7 VIB 8 TPBank 9 Sacombank 10 VP Bank 11 BVBank 12 Shinhan Bank 13 SeA Bank 14 HDBank 15 Ocean Bank Source: CNBC & Statista
Vietnamese private lender Techcombank is the customers' top pick in the country, where trust again was the key factor for survey respondents.
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Bank of Korea not likely to cut interest rates yet, says economist
Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis, says the central bank “has to balance between financial stability and … that deleveraging cycle.”
03:25
2 hours ago
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Modi’s BJP-led alliance projected to win decisive majority in India’s election, exit polls show
Supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) holding cut-outs of India’s Prime Minister a Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally in Amritsar on May 30, 2024.
Narinder Nanu | Afp | Getty Images
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks set for a rare third consecutive term in power, as local exit polls on Saturday suggested his Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance will clinch a decisive parliamentary majority.
According to an exit poll summary by local news channel NDTV, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is expected to secure around 365 out of the 543 seats in the lower house of parliament. The party or coalition that wins at least 272 votes will form the government. Final results, expected on Tuesday, can diverge from exit poll projections.
If the exit polls, which have a patchy record, are confirmed, Modi will serve for another five years as the country’s prime minister — a position he has held since 2014.
India’s vote, the world’s largest democratic election polling just under a billion eligible voters, panned out in seven phases over the last six weeks and started April 19. There are a total of 543 contested seats in the lower house, and the party or coalition that wins at least 272 votes will form the government.
Under Modi’s decade-long reign, India has witnessed robust economic growth and a leap in its global reputation. Home to 1.4 billion people, India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, which expanded 7.2% in the fiscal year 2022-2023 — achieving the second-highest growth rate among the G20 countries. The International Monetary Fund projects that India’s economy will grow 6.8% in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025, compared to China’s predicted growth of 5% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025.
Some economists are even more optimistic. “The larger you grow, the more difficult it becomes to sustain a very high level of growth, but I think 7%-7.5% growth is possible to achieve,” Sujan Hajra, chief economist at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers, told CNBC adding that improving infrastructure will be a big priority to boost growth.
“Soft infrastructure such as improving the country’s health care network will get significantly more emphasis this time around as compared to the hard infrastructure because a lot of work has already been done on that,” Harja said.
In the BJP’s manifesto for the upcoming term, Modi pledged that his government will propel India to become one of the world’s top three economies, aggressively fight poverty, open up new avenues for growth and tackle corruption.
Despite the optimism global leaders have about India’s growth trajectory under Modi’s rule, observers and critics have warned that the prime minister’s third term in office could bring about more signs of a democratic backslide. He has also been accused of hate speech for calling Muslims “infiltrators” at a rally days after voting began. The religious divide in India continued to be a hot button topic during the election, as well as unemployment.
According to a survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, unemployment was the top concern for 27% of the 10,000 surveyed. More than half (62%) of those surveyed also said it had become more difficult to find a job in the last five years during Modi’s second term.
Modi reportedly said in March that he was confident the BJP and the wider National Democratic Alliance would secure a total of 400 seats, but analysts say that’s less likely to matter as long as he is close to the 303 seats he clinched in 2019.
“It will still be a very positive outlook for the Indian equity market as we’ve seen the type of progress and efficiency that he’s been able to bring from a governance perspective since 2019 with 303 seats,” said Malcolm Dorson, a senior portfolio manager and head of emerging markets strategy at Global X ETFs.
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Asia’s top 4 up-and-coming rental markets that may be challenging traditional property hubs
Bangkok, Thailand has seen an 18.1% growth in residential rental prices on a year-on-year basis, according to JLL.
Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images
Singapore and Hong Kong are generally considered Asia’s more vibrant real estate markets. But some up-and-coming cities are giving these traditional hubs a run for their money, with some even beating them on rental yields.
Among the known, established property markets, Hong Kong was the only one to make it to the top five in a list dominated by lesser-known cities, according to a recent report by realty services firm JLL.
“We remain bullish longer-term on more established markets like Hong Kong, but primarily we see more conspicuous rental growth in some of the region’s more developing markets including Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila,” JLL Asia-Pacific Chief Research Officer Roddy Allan told CNBC Make It.
While rents in Asia-Pacific were largely stable in the first quarter of 2024, “supported by resilient leasing demand for high-quality properties and as return-to office rates and expatriate arrivals improved,” certain cities saw sharp growth, according to the JLL report.
The following four cities have led the recovery in rental growth in Asia so far this year:
Bangkok, Thailand
Residential rental growth in Q1 2024 (y/y): +18.1%
Average price to rent: THB 8,292 (about $226) per square meter annually
“Rental demand has been surging in Bangkok,” Allan said. “Much of the rental gains have been led by the luxury condo sector, but more broadly, rental demand for apartments has skyrocketed due to the prevailing rates environment and the return of tourism and expats to Bangkok,” he told CNBC.
“Inflated” selling prices, household debts and strong interest rates, have stoked the demand for rentals, according to the report.
By the end of 2024, a total of 2,800 units from 12 projects are set to be added to Bangkok’s market, which is expected to fuel rent growth even further, the report said.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Residential rental growth in Q1 2024 (y/y): +5.9%
Average price to rent: $120 psm annually
“Vietnam’s largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, was also one of the region’s [best] performing markets from a residential perspective,” according to Allan. Rents in the city grew 5.9% on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter of 2024.
This rental growth has been influenced by the stronger rent prices recorded in new high-quality offerings in the city, according to the report.
“We also see new supply coming online in the lower-price segment and ongoing rates pressures will help demand,” said Allan.
Jakarta, Indonesia
Residential rental growth in Q1 2024 (y/y): +4.8%
Average price to rent: IDR 3,214,555 (about $200) psm annually
In Jakarta, sales of condominiums have been quite slow for the past three years and, in 2024, the presidential election has been a contributing factor to the limited sales, according to the report.
Despite the sales slowdown, demand for renting “remains robust” in the city, particularly at the upper end of the market, Allan told CNBC Make It.
“We expect new launches to remain muted in Jakarta throughout 2024 which will drive demand for high quality spaces across the city,” he said.
Manila, Philippines
Residential rental growth in Q1 2024 (y/y): +0.8%
Average price to rent: PHP 9,984 (about $172) psm annually
Manila’s residential rental market grew in Q1, as demand from executives and foreigners kept its steady rise amid a recovery in return-to-office rates, according to the report.
Leasing demand is expected to remain stable as return-to-office policies improve further into 2024, the report said.
While these lesser know markets have been on an upswing in terms of rentals, Asia’s more mature markets have declined. Singapore’s residential rental market has dropped sharply, down 15.7% on a year-on-year basis. Shanghai has fallen 3% from the previous year.
“Rents in Mainland China remain a little subdued due to the number of high-end apartments available for lease,” Allan told CNBC Make It. “Singapore has a similar situation of ample new stock,” he said.
“Over the longer term, we expect to see rents recover in Mainland China and Singapore due to more muted supply and a recovery in expatriate and wider demand for leasing of luxury residential.”
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Asia as a region is ‘supremely interesting,’ says JPMorgan’s Filippo Gori
“You have Japan, which is on fire. India, which is very in high demand,” said Filippo Gori, co-head of global banking at JPMorgan, explaining why Asia as a region is interesting for investors.
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Asset management firm CIO discusses his preferences in the Indian banking sector
Prashant Jain of 3P Investment Managers says "my preference in banks is for the good public and the good private banks."
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HSBC falls 3% amid reports that top shareholder Ping An is looking to trim its stake
Customers use automated teller machines (ATM) at an HSBC Holdings Plc bank branch at night in Hong Kong, China, on Saturday, Feb 16, 2019.
Anthony Kwan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of HSBC Holdings fell over 3% in Hong Kong on Friday after reports that its top shareholder Ping An Insurance might be looking to cut its stake in the British bank.
Despite the fall, HSBC’s share price is still at its highest since August 2018, trading at about 68 Hong Kong dollars per share.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported the Chinese insurer is looking at possibly reducing its stake in the bank further “as it seeks to reduce its $13.3 billion position in Europe’s largest lender.”
There are several options including “further share sales, similar to the $50 million sale it disclosed last week.”
Ping An sold HSBC shares worth 391.49 million Hong Kong dollars ($50.19 million) on May 7, cutting its stake from 8.01% to 7.98%.
The sale marked the first disposal of shares from Ping An since it backed a 2023 shareholder motion that sought to spin off its Asia business and establish fixed dividends. That motion was eventually defeated.
“A sovereign wealth fund or ultra-rich investor in the Middle East taking a sizable stake is another possibility,” Bloomberg said, citing unnamed sources.
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UOB names potential ‘pockets of growth’ in the Southeast Asian market
Wai Fai, CFO at UOB, says it's optimistic about "semiconductors in Malaysia, commodities in Indonesia, [electric vehicles] in Thailand and manufacturing in Vietnam."
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Here’s how much it costs to rent a 1-bedroom apartment across 10 major cities in Asia
Here’s the median price to rent a 1-bedroom across 10 cities in Asia.
Fraser Hall | The Image Bank | Getty Images
Renting a place is a big financial decision, especially when choosing to live in a major city where price tags are particularly hefty.
The general rule of thumb is to spend no more than approximately 30% of your pre-tax income on rent, according to financial experts.
Based on data gathered in April from various government websites and large real estate marketplaces in each country, researchers at the Global Property Guide compiled a list of median rental prices across several major cities in Asia.
The numbers listed below are based on the median buying price per square meter and the median monthly rental price for a 1-bedroom apartment in the most expensive region within each respective city:
Mumbai, India
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $481
Buying price per square meter: $3,882
Hanoi, Vietnam
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $688
Buying price per square meter: $2,280
Jakarta, Indonesia
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $698
Buying price per square meter: $1,726
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $735
Buying price per square meter: $3,903
Manila, Philippines
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $805
Buying price per square meter: $3,813
Taipei, Taiwan
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $816
Buying price per square meter: $17,551
Bangkok, Thailand
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $1,080
Buying price per square meter: $6,485
Tokyo, Japan
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $1,216
Buying price per square meter: $8,837
Hong Kong
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $2,173
Buying price per square meter: $25,802
Singapore
Median rent for a 1-bedroom: $4,590
Buying price per square meter: $16,619
In 2023, Asia’s housing market faced a downturn amid weakening economic growth and the inflationary environment, according to a report by Global Property Guide.
“Hong Kong’s housing market woes continue, amidst [a] struggling economy,” as residential construction activity in the region fell by more than 34% year-over-year and inflation-adjusted residential property prices plunged by more than 9% in 2023, according to the report.
Prices for housing in regions of Southeast Asia such as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (-1.18%) and Malaysia (-1.06%) have also fallen.
On the other hand, cities like Taipei and Singapore remain resilient despite the overall market environment — with housing prices up 5.17% and 2.74% in 2023, respectively.
Overall, the global housing market seems to be stabilizing as inflationary pressures ease in many countries and central banks pause their rate hikes, according to the report.
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