00:00Hong Leong Bank anticipates the Malaysian economy to grow by around 4.5 to 5% this year,
00:10benefiting from strong economic fundamentals and an uptick in foreign investments.
00:15The bank shared its economic house view on the projected moderate economic growth at
00:19the bank's Wealth Symposium 2025 held in Kuala Lumpur on January 18.
00:25The event saw a huge turnout of clients, analysts, industry experts and media personnel.
00:31The bank's head of regional wealth management, Jeffrey Yap, said the Malaysian and global
00:36economies will enter the new year with a mixed outlook led by the United States market.
00:42We believe that the US interest rate cycle has probably peaked and interest rate cut
00:46has just began this year.
00:48So next year, even though the employment numbers have been very strong, we believe the interest
00:53rate cut will continue.
00:54I think it's a very good time for investors to be looking into fixed income still.
00:58Secondly, we believe US equity markets will continue to rally, so we advise clients to
01:02buy on dip because of supported by very strong earnings and outlook of the global economy,
01:07especially driven by AI.
01:09Third, we believe the US dollar probably is going to continue to be strong in the first
01:14half of this year on the back of a Trump presidency.
01:17But in the second half, when interest rate were to get cut again, dollar might weaken.
01:21And the fourth thing that we like is basically China.
01:25We think China probably has bottomed a little bit on the back of the policy that's come
01:31from China.
01:32We believe the market will continue to gradually go back up.
01:35But we are thinking of a look and see at the moment.
01:39Some sectors that we really like in China, especially on the consumer side and exports.
01:43He also commented that the ASEAN economies and the equity market in the region, including
01:48Malaysia, are looking good on the back of strong foreign direct investments and domestic
01:53demands.
01:54Looking at the new year ahead, the bank said it hoped that it will continue to forge partnerships
01:59with the industry players and investors, empowering them to achieve their goals.
02:04The Hong Leong Bank's Wealth Symposium is an annual event where analysts and industry
02:09experts share their economic house views for the year and provide clients with updates
02:14on global markets and investment strategies for the year ahead.
02:18This is a key extension to the bank's overall goal of enhancing its wealth management capabilities
02:24as part of its bank-wide transformation plan.
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