Sticky inflation and rising rates are pulling global markets in different directions. In this episode of Market Focus Weekly, Nicole Teo speaks with State Street Investment Management’s Ninghui Liu about how higher energy prices and the AI boom are keeping inflation stubborn in many economies — while China remains stuck in deflation.

He also unpacks the opportunities emerging from Japan’s rising bond yields, where higher funding costs could put the brakes on the AI boom, and what cheap, powerful Chinese open-source models mean for the global AI race.

Highlights:

03:26 China deflation problem

07:19 Why Japan’s rising yields matter

11:31 Rising AI large language model (LLM) safety concerns

12:54 Who’s most vulnerable in an AI downturn?

18:43 China’s race to build its own chip supply chain

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Send us your questions, thoughts, story ideas, and feedback to btpodcasts@sph.com.sg.

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Written and hosted by: Nicole Teo (nicolet@sph.com.sg)

With Ninghui Liu, head of Investment Strategy and Research, APAC at State Street Investment Management

Edited by: Nicole Teo & Claressa Monteiro

Produced by: Nicole Teo & Chai Pei Chieh

A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media

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