Key players, worth trillions of won in corporate value — including subsidiaries of major conglomerates — are aiming to go public in 2025. However, according to market watchers on Thursday, it remains uncertain whether they can revive the current slump in market sentiment.

LG CNS is among the most anticipated initial public offerings (IPO) of 2025. The information technology subsidiary of LG will commence its IPO process next month, starting with demand forecasting for institutional investors. The offering is projected to raise up to 1.19 trillion won ($812 million), making it the largest public offering in three years since LG Energy Solutions.

Lotte Global Logistics, a logistics subsidiary of Lotte, plans to proceed with its stock market debut upon receiving the Korea Exchange's review results later this month. The company is targeting a market capitalization of 1 trillion won.

Other companies cautiously timing their IPOs, including Kbank, Seoul Guarantee Insurance (SGI) and DN Solutions, are also preparing for public offerings during the first half of 2025.

The subdued end-of-year IPO market has bolstered the interest of companies in pursuing IPOs next year.

In the first quarter of this year, newly listed stocks posted an average first-day return of 119.93 percent. This figure dropped to 65 percent in the second quarter and further declined to 22.99 percent in the third quarter. By November, the trend has reversed entirely, with newly listed stocks recording a 9.58 percent loss.

"The overheated IPO market has lost its momentum and entered a cold spell (in 2024)," an industry official said. "Several companies that are financially and operationally strong prepared for listings in the second half (of this year), but many have postponed their public offerings due to weakened investor confidence."

In October, Kbank, an internet-only bank, delayed its IPO process for the second time, citing weaker-than-expected investor interest. DN Solutions and SGI, despite receiving preliminary approval from the Korea Exchange, have postponed submitting their securities registration statements, citing unfavorable domestic stock market conditions.

Whether IPO market sentiment will improve in 2025 remains uncertain. Recent political developments, including the botched imposition of martial law and the subsequent impeachment of the president, have further eroded investor confidence.

Market watchers believe LG CNS' listing next month will set the tone for the IPO market in the first half of 2025.

"Rising market volatility is causing retail investors to lose interest in the IPO market," Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Park Jong-sun said. "The trend of distinguishing between strong and weak stocks has intensified."

Source: Koreatimes

BENGALURU (Dec 26): Emerging Asian currencies were mostly lower against a resilient dollar and stock markets weaker on Thursday, as investors continued to focus on the Federal Reserve's rate cut path in a holiday-thinned trading week.

The South Korean won, which is among the worst performing Asian currencies this year amid domestic political turmoil and US President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats, fell as much as 0.6% to it lowest level since March 2009.

The Thai baht fell 0.3% and China's yuan hovered near a 13-month low, not far from the psychologically important 7.3 per dollar mark.

The Indian rupee dropped to a lifetime low.

Poon Panichpibool, a markets strategist at Krung Thai Bank said the impact of Trump 2.0 policies could support the US economy and keep the dollar strong under the "US exceptionalism" theme, exerting more selling pressures on EM assets.

The won, baht and Malaysian ringgit are considered more vulnerable to Trump's policies because of the countries' export-driven economies and sensitivity to China's growth.

Panichpibool added that the Fed's policy rate outlook was also significant because of its potential impact on Asian central banks' monetary policy decisions and rate differentials between the currencies.

Last week, Fed policymakers lowered their rate cut projections for 2025 to 50 basis points from 100 basis points, and raised their inflation forecast.

Markets are now pricing in only about 35 basis points of easing for 2025, which sent US treasury yields surging, and the dollar near a two-year peak.

Higher US rates could create problems for emerging markets, including capital outflows, currency weakness, inflation and volatility.

The central banks in Indonesia,Thailana, and Taiwan kept rates steady last week to address currency and global economic uncertainty concerns, while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cut rates.

Among other currencies, the Philippine peso rose 1.1% and was on track for its best day since November 2023. The ringgit, the only Asian currency to log a yearly gain this year, rose 0.4%.

Equities in Kuala Lumpur gained 0.5%, while those in Manila, Singapore and Bangkok lost between 0.1% and 0.2%.

Markets in Indonesia were closed for a holiday.

Source: Theedgemarkets

(Dec 26): Bitcoin rose on Thursday after the digital asset’s stockpiler MicroStrategy announced a plan to issue more shares, a move that would allow it to buy even more tokens.

The digital asset was up 0.32% at US$98,747 (RM441,276) as of 11.30am in Singapore, off its intraday high of US$99,876.70. A broader gauge of cryptocurrencies comprising smaller tokens including Ether, Solana and meme-coin favourite Dogecoin was up 0.2%, recovering from losses on Wednesday.

“The announcement that MicroStrategy will issue more shares next year to buy more bitcoin is pushing up the prices,” said Sean McNulty, a director of trading at liquidity provider Arbelos Markets. “The market is being forward looking about MicroStrategy’s bitcoin buys, and that’s been the single biggest reason for market to go up. Watching MicroStrategy news is becoming a big part of my day.”

MicroStrategy Inc is seeking permission to increase the number of authorised shares of Class A common stock and preferred stock, according to a Dec 23 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Such a move would provide the company, which has transformed itself from a software maker into a bitcoin accumulator, more firepower.

MicroStrategy announced earlier this week it had purchased an additional US$561 million of the digital token at an average price near last week’s record high. That marked the seventh week in a row of purchases.

Bitcoin has risen 135% so far this year, exceeding returns from traditional investments such as global stocks and gold.

Some traders cautioned that markets could turn volatile in the coming day on massive expiries of open interest in bitcoin and Ether derivatives.

On Friday, a record US$43 billion of open interest including US$13.95 billion in bitcoin options and US$3.77 billion in Ether options will expire on derivatives exchange Deribit.

“Market makers could unwind their hedges and short bitcoin strikes which might make it a choppy market on Friday,” McNulty said.

Source: Theedgemarkets

Bitcoin reserves on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has dropped to levels not seen since January 2024, just two months before Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed 90% in March.

If Bitcoin follows the same pattern with its current price of $98,680, it would mean a $187,500 price in a matter of months.

Signals investors are confident

Binance’s Bitcoin (BTC) reserves recently dipped below 570,000 BTC — the lowest level since January, according to CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost in a Dec. 25 analyst note.

When exchange reserves decline, this typically signals that investors are moving Bitcoin into cold storage and are bullish about the long-term price prospects of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s price is $98,680 at the time of publication. Source: CoinMarketCap

Earlier this year, Binance’s reserves had plummeted to a similar level in January before Bitcoin soared to $73,679 two months later on March 13, which was an all-time high then.

“When periods of withdrawals occur, it is often a sign of positive momentum building in the market,” Darkfost said.

Bitcoin dominance hovering below 60%

Bitcoin dominance currently stands at 58.40%, just below the critical 60% level, according to TradingView.

However, some analysts believe the 60% level could signal a wider rotation toward other crypto assets.

On Aug. 18, Into The Cryptoverse founder Benjamin Cowen said he believed Bitcoin “will make that final move” toward 60% no later than December, which it ended up tapping just two months later on Oct. 30.

Bitcoin dominance is sitting at 58.40% at the time of publication. Source: TradingView

Meanwhile, Bitcoin has struggled to hold above the psychological $100,000 since first breaking that level on Dec. 5.

Bitcoin’s price has been trading under the $100,000 mark since Dec. 19, after reaching a new high of $108,300 recorded on Dec. 17.

Related: Bitcoin bulls are back: BTC derivatives data hints at rally to $105K

According to Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, Bitcoin’s price may exceed $105,000 once liquidity returns after the Christmas holidays.

Bitcoin’s current downtrend is an typical symptom of the holiday illiquidity, Lee recently told Cointelegraph:

“Post-Christmas, market activity typically picks up again, with funds expected to actively position for sectors that might benefit from Trump’s upcoming inauguration… The expected trading range for BTC this week is $94,000 - $105,000.”

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 26): Selangor remained the top destination for investments so far this year, as the state drew in RM66.8 billion in approved investments.

A total of 1,371 projects were approved comprising 253 manufacturing projects and 1,116 in the services sector, according to Invest Selangor. The projects are expected to create more than 50,000 potential job opportunities in the state, the state government promotion agency said.

The planned investments showcase Selangor’s industrial ecosystem vibrancy, cutting-edge technological capabilities, and its competitive strengths in the manufacturing and services sectors, said Ng Sze Han, the state’s executive councillor for investment, trade and mobility.

“The future looks bright for Selangor, and we hope the upwards momentum to continue and yield positive full year result for 2024,” he added.

The total approved investments were an increase of 59% from RM42.1 billion recorded during the same January-September period in 2023, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).

Most of the investments went into the services sector, followed by manufacturing and the primary sector of the economy, a segment that typically covers raw commodity production and extraction such as mining and plantation.

The services sector remained the key driver of Selangor’s investment performance, with major contributions from sub-sectors such as information and communications, real estate, support services, transport services, and distributive trade.

In the manufacturing sector, investments were driven by electrical and electronics, transport equipment, fabricated metal products, non-metallic mineral products, and machinery equipment. “This underscores the manufacturing sector’s resilience and continued growth,” Invest Selangor noted.

Domestic investments accounted for more than one-third of the total. The US was the top contributor of foreign investments in Selangor, pouring in RM4.8 billion, followed by Singapore, China, Japan and Germany.

Source: Theedgemarkets

It’s the inevitability that gets you. We’re accustomed to lies, greed and manoeuv­ring worthy of Niccolo Machiavelli. Yet, still we hoped against hope that it might not happen. That was a year ago. Since then, it’s been one supine surrender after another to the unstoppable juggernaut. At least Donald Trump faced an election.

This month’s simultaneous award of two World Cups — something that Sepp Blatter promised would never happen again after the heist of 2010 — was a fait accompli, thanks to “acclamation by Zoom”. The ancient Greeks can be forgiven for not factoring this in when they came up with democracy.

As a result of these shenanigans, the 2030 World Cup will be staged in not just one continent but three: Europe, Africa and South America. Don’t worry about the environment and excuse the sarcasm: In keeping with Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s commitment to halving emissions by 2030, only a handful of teams will have to make round trips of 20,000km to play a single 90-minute match.

Just as reassuring as his “Green Card for the Planet” policy is that, four years later when Saudi Arabia hosts, all the stadiums have achieved glowing approval ratings even though nine of them don’t exist. As for the final, it’s destined to be held 350m above ground in a city, Neom, that is still in the planning stage. To be fair to Gianni, the designs look like they belong to another planet.

So, this is where the world’s most watched event will be taking place in the medium-term future — and you do wonder whether Elon Musk has somewhere up his sleeve for 2038. The next edition (2026) will be in just three countries — but as they happen to be the US, Canada and Mexico, the carbon footprint will hardly be on tip-toe.

Apart from the six nations — yes, six — that will do the honours in 2030, in the two decades that follow Brazil’s 2014 tourney, the World Cup will have been held in Russia, Qatar, North America and Saudi Arabia. Not the first places that spring to mind when you think of football. Indeed, for a sport that boasts more followers than the two biggest religions combined, it is being dragged into some less-than-devoted corners.

We might applaud the evangelistic spirit, if it were not so blatantly subordinate to profit and power. The Pope travels the world but still celebrates mass with his fan base in Rome. Not football. Ever since the oil states started throwing their money at the game, Fifa has been determined to grab the lion’s share.

At first it was just certain delegates who were alleged to have taken bribes to support the bids of Russia and Qatar. There was shock and horror, but after Blatter, who voted for Russia and the US “in a gesture of peace”, was finally ousted in 2015, there was hope.

Dawn raids on Fifa officials as they slept; white sheets of shame to protect their identity as they were corralled into waiting cars. Some went to jail. But it was no more than football’s Arab Spring, and now an even more monstrous head has emerged to show that the governing body is no more than a giant hydra.

The UK’s The Times called Infantino “the biggest creep in the history of sports administration”, while The Daily Tele­graph dubbed the vote “the most craven sellout in sports history”. What is undeniable is that the Swiss-Italian mega­lomaniac has embarked on an unashamed carve-up of the world’s most popular sport. Engraving his name on the World Club Cup trophy was just a start.

The continental confederations take it in turns to host the World Cup, but rotation goes awry when more than one continent — and multiple countries — are involved. Uruguay has always wanted to hold the 2030 edition, as it’s the centenary of the inaugural World Cup. Back in 1930, all 18 matches were played in the capital, Montevideo, but the award of an expanded 2026 event to North America effectively scuppered its chances.

Some 104 matches would have been a stretch even for a football-mad nation of three million. Qatar, which hosted in 2022, is even smaller but rich enough to build several fabulous (albeit some single-use) stadiums for a then 32-nation tournament.

Uruguay’s neighbours offered to lend a hand but it was to no avail, as Fifa deemed the profits from places such as Paraguay, Chile and Argentina paled in comparison with what was being offered elsewhere, not to mention the infrastructure. And by this time, Saudi Arabia had reared its head; so, a cunning plan was hatched.

Spain, which hosted in 1982, and Portugal, which has never hosted, were seen as a joint-alternative and when they linked with Morocco, perennial losers in World Cup bidding, it played into Fifa’s hands. At a stroke, three continents ruled themselves out of the running for 2034.

To show he hadn’t forgotten Uruguay altogether, Infantino granted the original hosts one commemorative match, along with one each for Argentina and Paraguay. The home nations will presumably be playing, but all involved will have to fly from the south of South America to Europe to play the rest of the tournament. A minor inconvenience, but it stops South America from bidding in 2034.

So, this is how the road opened up for Saudi Arabia. With everywhere else out of the running, it left only Australia as a realistic alternative. But then, just over a year ago, Infantino pulled off his coup de grâce: He gave the candidates 26 days to make their bids.

As Saudi had their stunningly futuristic plans already in place, they were shoo-ins. Australia saw the direction of the breeze and bowed out. So, Saudi Arabia’s drawing-board arenas got the nod by a show of hands via Zoom. Britain’s The Independent newspaper labelled Fifa a “tinpot dictatorship”, adding that the sham vote “perfectly encapsulates the depths to which football has sunk”.

Only Norway spoke up while the English FA fiddled over Rainbow armbands and is now facing a lifetime without a World Cup. The country that invented the game has the best league in the world and some of the best stadiums! All other concerns were brushed aside, although a brush wasn’t really required in the Zoom decision-making process.

It was a farce; some delegates were in their cars, others on their phones. Human rights, anyone? Some 83% of Newcastle fans have expressed concern about human rights in Saudi Arabia and their club is owned by the country. But Fifa turn a deaf ear. Women? Migrant workers? Nary a mention while the dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi seems as distant as a Nazi war crime.

And is Saudi Arabia a suitable venue anyway? The heat will mean another shift to winter and disruption to the season in Europe. While there’s no doubt that Saudis love football, lapping up the glitz and big-money signings, you have to ask: Aside from a handful of clubs, is interest enough to stretch to 104 matches? Some Saudi Pro League attendances have been counted in dozens.

But nothing is going to stop Infantino from doing what he likes. The 54-year-old, whom the French might call “Infantino terrible”, is hell-bent on being the great panjandrum of the sport. He even had the temerity to repeat the words of World Cup founder, Jules Rimet, who said: “Sport could unite the world.” It’s on its way — most of football agrees the Fifa boss is a tinpot dictator.

Source: Theedgemarkets