37ZM-GB Overview

Future of Transactions: Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, predicts that nearly all global transactions will eventually be conducted on a digital blockchain ledger, indicating a significant transformation in the financial system.

Hong Kong's Role: Winters highlights Hong Kong's leadership in the digital assets space, emphasizing its regulatory framework and experimentation efforts to establish itself as a regional crypto hub.

Tokenized Assets: Standard Chartered is actively involved in the development of tokenized assets, including plans to launch a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, which could serve as a new medium of exchange for international trade.

Industry Predictions: Other fintech leaders, like Robinhood's CEO and BlackRock's CEO, share optimistic views on the future of tokenization, suggesting it will revolutionize various asset classes in the coming years.

Apple and Amazon Earnings: Both companies reported earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, but faced challenges with Apple's Services division and Amazon's cloud revenue growth, which fell short for the third consecutive quarter. CEOs expressed concerns about the impact of tariffs on future forecasts.

Roche's Obesity Drug Deal: Roche announced a $5.3 billion deal to develop Zealand Pharma’s weight loss candidate, petrelintide, which aims to compete in the growing obesity drug market against established players like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly by utilizing a different mechanism than current treatments.

Alphabet and Reddit Earnings: Alphabet's third-quarter earnings exceeded expectations, driven by a 35% revenue increase in its cloud division, while Reddit turned profitable with a net income of $29.9 million, leading to a nearly 25% surge in its shares during extended trading.

Market Trends and Predictions: European banks reported strong profits, with UBS significantly outperforming forecasts, while U.S. markets showed mixed results; analysts are anticipating potential impacts on stocks and bonds from the upcoming UK national budget announcement.