Market Focus Daily: Thursday, July 3, 2025
Synopsis: Market Focus Daily is a closing bell roundup by The Business Times that looks at the day's market movements and news from Singapore and the region.
Written and hosted by: Emily Liu (emilyliu@sph.com.sg)
Produced and edited by: Chai Pei Chieh & Claressa Monteiro
Produced by: BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media
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Trump says tariff letters to go out to other countries on Monday
President Donald Trump said late on Sunday (Jul 6) that the US will start delivering tariff letters to other countries starting 12pm ET (12am, Tuesday, Singapore time) on Monday. "I am pleased to announce that the United States tariff letters, and/or deals, with various countries from around the world, will be delivered starting 12pm (Eastern), Monday, Jul 7. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump had said on Jul 4 that he had signed 12 trade letters ahead of an impending deadline for his tariffs to take effect. "I signed some letters and they'll go out on Monday, probably 12," Trump told reporters, adding that the countries that the letters would be sent to will be announced on the same day. Trump's tariffs were part of a broader announcement in April where he imposed a 10 per cent duty on goods from almost all trading partners, with a plan to step up these rates for a select group within days. But he swiftly paused the hikes until Jul 9, allowing for trade talks to take place. Countries have been pushing to strike deals that would help them avoid these elevated duties. So far, the Trump administration has unveiled deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, while Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower staggeringly high levies on each other's products. Trump also said that countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of BRICS will be charged an additional 10 per cent tariff. "Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10 per cent Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump did not clarify or expand on the "Anti-American policies" reference in his post. The original BRICS group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as members. BRICS leaders at a summit on Sunday took aim at and recent Israeli-US strikes on Iran.

Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
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an hour ago
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[HONG KONG] Billionaire Richard Li's FWD Group Holdings declined in its trading debut in Hong Kong after raising HK$3.5 billion (S$569 million) in an initial public offering (IPO), a bid to capitalise on the city's listing resurgence years after its initial try. The insurer's stock fell as much as 2.5 per cent on Monday (Jul 7) after selling 91.3 million shares at HK$38 apiece. The shares slipped in grey-market trading on Jul 4. The IPO values the company at more than US$6 billion, according to deal terms seen by Bloomberg. Mubadala Capital and Japan's T&D Holdings were its cornerstone investors, according to a filing. The debut comes after the tycoon, son of famed Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing, tried to take the company public in New York in 2021, which was abandoned after regulatory scrutiny. Subsequent efforts to list at home in Hong Kong were stalled as the city's IPO entered a prolonged slump. Now, with Hong Kong's equity markets rebounding, Li is seizing a more favourable window to raise capital for the crown jewel of his business empire. Investors' sentiment has been buoyed by a wave of multibillion-dollar deals, with IPOs and follow-on offerings raising US$37.4 billion so far in 2025 – the highest since the record-breaking year of 2021 and a sharp jump from US$5.1 billion during the same period last year. The city's stock benchmark, the Hang Seng Index, has risen about 20 per cent for the year. Insurers have been particularly hot lately, with shares of AIA Group and Prudential each rising at least 35 per cent since their April lows. Richard Li, who founded the company in 2013, owns a 66.5 per cent stake in FWD through various corporate entities. His stake in FWD accounts for two-thirds of his US$6.1 billion net worth at the IPO price, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The insurer plans to use the proceeds to reduce debt, support growth and enhance its digital capabilities. BLOOMBERG