On July 6, Morgan Stanley's Chief Economist for China, Xing Ziqiang, shared his latest insights during a closed-door meeting on topics including the global AI financing boom, the direction of Federal Reserve policies, and the rebalancing of domestic demand in China. He pointed out that the main theme currently overshadowing global markets remains AI and energy. Major U.S. tech companies may raise nearly a trillion dollars through bond, equity, and loan markets over the next year to support their massive capital expenditures, significantly draining global micro liquidity and making markets more sensitive to changes in Fed interest rates. Regarding the Federal Reserve, Xing Ziqiang believes that market concerns about rate hikes are overstated, predicting that it is unlikely to raise rates in the second half of the year and may even continue to cut rates next year. However, the new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's reduction of forward guidance and return to policy opacity will exacerbate financial market volatility. Turning to the Chinese economy, the GDP growth rate for the second quarter is expected to be around 4.4%, a noticeable decline from the first quarter. Xing Ziqiang suggested rebalancing from two aspects: in the short term, most export tax rebates for high-tech industries could be canceled and redirected to tax cuts for domestic consumption and services; in the medium to long term, strengthening social security to enhance the consumption power of the middle and low-income groups after redistribution is necessary. However, he predicts that the most likely main theme in the second half will not be large-scale direct consumption stimulus, but rather accelerating the use of over 2 trillion yuan in unused fiscal and local debt quotas for the construction of the 'six networks' related to technological independence and energy security. Additionally, Morgan Stanley's Chief Strategist, Laura Wang Ying, stated that the U.S. job market is not overheating, and the likelihood of a rate hike in July is minimal, with a potential shift to a rate-cutting cycle in the first half of 2027. She believes that stabilizing oil prices and reduced inflationary pressures are relatively favorable for risk assets; although short-term market volatility has increased, no fundamental changes have been observed. The AI supercycle and the supercycle of energy capital expenditures present multi-year opportunities. Regarding the Chinese market, she disagrees with concerns that the listing of mega-companies will squeeze liquidity, instead believing that such listings are likely to attract more investors. Furthermore, the national team has sold over 150 billion USD worth of A-share positions since the beginning of the year, possessing the strength to help smooth market volatility.
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