Singapore's market is closed today for National Day (observed), but Friday left plenty to talk about: $FTSE Straits Times Index(STI.SG) notched its 9th straight weekly gain, with $DBS(D05.SG) extending its post-earnings rally. Over in the US, a surprise July jobs report showing a loss of 23,000 positions sent $S&P 500(.SPX.US) to a record close, as traders bet the weak print gives the Fed more room to cut rates. Add $Apple(AAPL.US) reportedly testing Chinese memory chips and Berkshire Hathaway ending a 14-quarter selling streak, and it's a lot to unpack. Let's dig in 👇

💬 A jobs report this weak used to spook markets, but this time it sent the S&P to a record — has bad news quietly become good news again?

📊 Quick Recap — What Moved & Why

🇺🇸 US — Jobs Shock Sends the S&P to a Record

🔑 Key Event: US July nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly fell by 23,000 (vs. +80,000 expected), with unemployment ticking down to 4.1%, and traders read the weak print as giving the Fed more room to cut rates. $S&P 500(.SPX.US) jumped 0.62% to a record close of 7,757.64, $NASDAQ Composite Index(.IXIC.US) surged 1.30% to 26,690.62, and $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US) rose 0.28% to 54,036.93, capping the S&P's and Nasdaq's strongest week since April.

👀 Other to Watch

• $Apple(AAPL.US) → reportedly testing memory chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies for potential use in iPhones and MacBooks, as an AI-driven memory shortage strains its usual suppliers; the move would need US government approval given export controls.
• Berkshire Hathaway → disclosed it turned net buyer of stocks for the first time in 14 quarters, buying about $20B in Q2, with $Alphabet(GOOGL.US) now among its top five holdings; the detailed 13F breakdown lands this Friday.
• $Lumentum(LITE.US) → rose 6% Friday, capping a 25% weekly climb, on reports Washington may bar new Chinese optical transceivers from US data centers plus Nvidia's $2B investment pledge to Lumentum and Coherent for US photonics manufacturing.

🇸🇬 Singapore — STI Notches a 9th Straight Weekly Gain, Market Closed Today

🔑 Key Event: $FTSE Straits Times Index(STI.SG) closed Friday at 5,698.43 (+1.05%), its 9th consecutive weekly gain, though still below its July 29 record of 5,713.19. $DBS(D05.SG) extended its post-earnings rally, closing Friday up 1.67% on continued analyst optimism, while Elite UK REIT jumped about 3% on a dividend-per-unit increase. Singapore's market is closed today for National Day (observed) and reopens Tuesday.

@TheInvestingIguana : All three banks beat estimates, yet the market only rewarded two of them — I'm less interested in the profit beat than in what management's guidance says about the next few quarters.

👀 Other to Watch

• $UOB(U11.SG) → slipped 0.6% Friday despite beating profit estimates, a "sell the news" reaction as its fee-growth guidance lagged DBS's and OCBC's.

🇭🇰 HK/China — Hang Seng Rebounds as Insurers Recover

🔑 Key Event: $Hang Seng Index(00HSI.HK) rebounded Friday, closing up 0.54% at 25,668, recovering from Thursday's insurer-driven selloff; $Hang Seng China Enterprises Index(HSCEI.HK) rose 0.39% to 8,531.58. The rally extended into Monday morning, with $Hang Seng Index(00HSI.HK) up a further 0.53% to about 25,805. China's July inflation data, released over the weekend, showed CPI up 0.5% year-on-year (slowing from June) and PPI up 3.5%.

👀 Other to Watch

• Moore Threads → the Chinese GPU maker's board approved plans to issue H-shares and list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Main Board, pending further approvals.
• Chinese photonics/optical-component names extended this week's rally on continued Nvidia-linked supply-chain optimism.

🌍 Other

• Oil extended its climb, with Brent up about 1% Friday and again Monday morning to around $84.50, and WTI near $78.80, as Iran said it wasn't yet in direct talks with the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, dampening hopes for a quick resolution.
• SK Hynix is reportedly planning a shareholder-return program worth roughly $71B, with about 40% earmarked for buybacks — though the company says details won't be finalized until Q3.
• Elon Musk confirmed on social media that his Terafab chip project will attempt an in-house free-electron-laser approach to generating EUV light, an early-stage bet that could reduce reliance on ASML's core lithography technology.

📅 Key Events Tonight / This Week

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Not investment advice, just market talk 🙏