Asian tech stocks getting hammered, Brent crude above $111 and French 10-year yields hitting 5%. Is the debt-fueled AI expansion finally hitting a wall — or just catching its breath? Correspondent Howie Lim sits down with Ray Heung, senior investment officer at Standard Chartered Bank, to dissect the growing disconnect between booming AI narratives and market reality. From hyperscaler CapEx anxiety to China's confidence crisis, oil shocks, and France's fiscal strain — the signals you need before the next FOMC.

Highlights:

00:51 AI investment cycle: Boom or bubble?

03:35 Higher for longer and Asian rates

06:33 Oil above $111 and Asia's energy importers

10:59 Indonesia's MSCI warning & the free-float test

12:12 Regional tech washout

13:43 France hits 5% yields: contagion risk

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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: Howie Lim (howielim@sph.com.sg)

With Ray Heung, senior investment strategist, Standard Chartered

Edited by: Howie Lim & Claressa Monteiro

Produced by: Howie Lim & Rachna Raghu

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

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