Japan’s Topix slides 3% in Asia’s sell-off over Silicon Valley Bank concerns

Asia-Pacific banks continued to plunge in Tuesday morning trading.

Japan’s SoftBank saw a fall of more than 3% in the first hour of trading in Tokyo as investors continued to weigh in on concerns about Japan’s investment powerhouse.

Bank stocks also plunged, with Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Group down 6.92%, SMFG down more than 7%, Mizuho Financial down 7.34% and Nomura Securities down 4.6%.

The dollar index is at 103.68, hovering near its lowest level since mid-February.

Asian currencies traded mixed on Tuesday morning, with the New Zealand and Australian dollars both rising against the dollar to 0.6210 and 0.6651 respectively.

The Japanese yen fell slightly against the US dollar to 133.24, while the offshore Chinese renminbi also fell to 6.8591 against the US dollar.

The South Korean won also fell slightly against the US dollar to 1,297.49.

The US consumer price index is expected to rise 0.4% month-on-month and 6% year-on-year in February, according to Dow Jones estimates.

This is only slightly lower than the January inflation data of 0.5% and 6% respectively.

The CPI will be the next data point that can provide insight into the Federal Reserve’s moves ahead of its March 21st and 22nd meetings.

The hot inflation report will raise hopes that the Fed could raise 50 basis points from the 25 points it did in February.

— Lim Hui Jie, Patty Dorm

Singapore’s Monetary Authority said its exposure to Silicon Valley banks was “not material.”

“Singapore’s banking system has negligible exposure to these failed US banks,” MAS said in a statement on Monday.

“Singapore banks are well-capitalized and regularly stress-tested against interest rate and other risks,” he said, adding that the liquidity position was sound and “a stable and diversified funding base. ‘, he added.

— Lee Ji-hye

The top regulator of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will lead an investigation into the events leading to the collapse of Silicon Valley banks, the central bank announced Monday.

Vice-Chairman for Oversight, Michael S. Barr, has been named to the investigation, the results of which are expected to be made public on May 1. The review will focus on his SVB review and oversight, over which the Fed oversees its role as a regulator. .

“The events surrounding the Silicon Valley banks call for a thorough, transparent and speedy review by the Federal Reserve Board,” said Chairman Jerome Powell.

— Jeff Cox

President Joe Biden said on Monday Americans can be confident the U.S. banking system is safe after regulators rushed to craft a plan to boost deposits at Silicon Valley and Signature banks over the weekend. .

“Your deposit will be there when you need it. Small businesses across the country with savings accounts at these banks can rest easy knowing they can pay their employees and pay their bills,” he said. opened in a brief remark before Monday’s market.

Biden stressed that US taxpayers will not bear the losses. Also, bank management will be replaced and bank investors will be unprotected, he said.

Biden also called on Congress to find ways to tighten banking rules to prevent a repeat of these events.

— Christina Cheddar Burke

Anthony Doyle, head of investment strategy at Firetrail Investments, said many companies will find it very difficult to operate in a high-interest-rate environment, as the Silicon Valley bank crisis shows.

“There will be winners and there will be losers. Part of the challenge for investors today is identifying companies that find this environment much more difficult than they did in a zero interest rate world,” he said. said.

Still, he identified three stocks that he believes will be resilient in this new market environment.

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— Tan Weizhen