Alibaba breaks up, tech stocks rally & T-bill demand falls The tech-heavy NASDAQ index rose by 17% in the first quarter of 2023, the largest quarterly gain since the Covid bounce in the second quarter of 2020. Looking at the headline numbers, you might not realise that this was a period which saw three bank failures in the US and two interest rate hikes by the Fed. Capping an eventful start to the year, we also saw Alibaba announcing its historical split into six business groups.  Clearly, investors are looking ahead to expect that the ongoing restructuring by tech companies and potential Fed rate cuts could mean better days ahead. This improvement in risk appetite also translated to lower demand for a safe haven asset like the Singapore government bond, where the cut-off yield on the latest 6-month T-bill rose to 3.85% p.a. as applications fell sharply. On the other hand, more investors are locking in higher interest rates on the...