25 minutes ago
Offer to delist MS Holdings closes with 96.27% valid acceptances
Vivienne Tay - THE offer to take MS Holdings private closed on Dec 2 with valid acceptances representing 96.72 per cent of the company’s total issued shares.
Business Headlines & Market News
Business Headlines and Stock Market News by Singapore Financial News Publishers
39 minutes ago
Japan's service-sector activity growth hits 3-month low -PMI
TOKYO : Japan's service sector activity grew in November at the slowest pace in three months, as relentless inflation dampened a part of the economy that was benefiting from the return of domestic and foreign shoppers and easing COVID-19 restrictions.The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services purch ...
43 minutes ago
Stocks to watch: Chip Eng Seng
Michelle Zhu - THE following company saw new developments that may affect trading of its securities on Monday (Dec 5):
49 minutes ago
Asia shares pin hopes on China opening, oil rallies
SYDNEY : Asian shares edged higher on Monday as investors hoped steps to unwind pandemic restrictions in China would eventually brighten the outlook for global growth and commodity demand, even if full freedom could be months away.The news helped oil prices firm as OPEC+ nations reaffirmed their out ...
1 hour ago
UK rail union rejects offer, Christmas strikes still planned
BRITAIN’S National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers has rejected an offer from the Rail Delivery Group aimed at ending a strike action planned before Christmas.
2 hours ago
Oil rises after OPEC+ holds oil output targets, China eases COVID curbs
MELBOURNE : Oil prices inched up in early trade after OPEC+ nations reaffirmed their oil output targets ahead of a European Union ban and price caps on Russian crude, which kick off on Monday.At the same time, in a positive sign for fuel demand, more Chinese cities eased COVID-19 curbs over the week ...
2 hours ago
Sam Bankman-Fried says he will testify before House, without committing to date
SAM Bankman-Fried says he will testify before the House Financial Services Committee after he’s finished “learning and reviewing” the events that led to the implosion of FTX.
2 hours ago
Australia set to raise rates as tightening cycle approaches end
AUSTRALIA is set to raise interest rates as it closes in on the end of its tightening cycle, while nearby New Zealand just delivered a record hike and is poised to move higher, underscoring different central bank outlooks at year’s end.
2 hours ago
New Zealand plans law to require Facebook, Google to pay for news
WELLINGTON: The New Zealand government said it will introduce a law that will require big online digital companies such as Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms to pay New Zealand media companies for the local news content that appears on their feeds. Minister of Broadcasting Willie Jackson said ...
2 hours ago
Improbable bets on break of Hong Kong dollar peg adding up
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG: It's what is known in the markets as a "tail risk": a highly unlikely scenario in which Hong Kong's currency peg suddenly snaps. Yet market pricing suggests bets on such a shock are building in the hedge fund world, and some traders say it makes a lot of sens ...
3 hours ago
Commentary: Musk's Twitter won't die. Look at Telegram
Even as Twitter drains cash, staff and celebrity users, it could still thrive with activity, says Bloomberg Opinion’s Parmy Olson.
3 hours ago
Commentary: Doesn’t anyone do due diligence any more?
Theranos and FTX show a broad failure by investors to ask enough questions before handing over cash, says the Financial Times' Brooke Masters.
3 hours ago
Commentary: Layoffs don't mean that the heyday of tech is over
While more than a thousand workers in Singapore’s tech sector have been retrenched, other recruiters are trying to tap into this new pool of talent, says Yorlin Ng of Momentum Works.
3 hours ago
LSEG’s diversified business model drives resilience
Raphael Lim - WHEN the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) announced its plans to buy data service provider Refinitiv in August 2019, the world was a very different place.
3 hours ago
Baltic Exchange Shipping Insights
CapesizeThe Capesize market was in a ‘one step forward, two steps back’ mode this week. The average of the 5 time charter routes eventually settled at $12,598, a decline of $775 week-on-week.
3 hours ago
Rally in Asia-Pac airline stocks has more runway as tourism plays catch-up
Yong Hui Ting - ASIA-PACIFIC airline stocks have been top performers in the aviation play owing to the pandemic-recovery theme this year. Yet, there is still more runway for the stocks to rally, says analysts, as the region’s tourism industry has been a laggard.
3 hours ago
Rally in Asia-Pacific airline stocks has more runway as tourism plays catch-up: analysts
Yong Hui Ting - ASIA-PACIFIC airline stocks have been top performers in the aviation play owing to the pandemic-recovery theme this year. Yet, there is still more runway for the stocks to rally, says analysts, as the region’s tourism industry has been a laggard.
3 hours ago
ICYMI: Sats’ acquisition target is in the red
Ben Paul - ONE of the most interesting stories I read in The Business Times this past week was about Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) chief executive Craig Smyth expecting further, near-term softness in the global air freight sector before an eventual recovery.
3 hours ago
Newer sustainable finance taxonomies converging on common features
Wong Pei Ting - REGULATORS in various jurisdictions are increasingly aligned on how they design their sustainable finance taxonomies, according to an analysis of 13 country and regional frameworks.
4 hours ago
South Korea's FX reserves post biggest monthly gain in 13 on weaker dollar
SEOUL: South Korea's foreign exchange reserves increased in November for the first time in four months and by the largest amount in 13 months, central bank data showed on Monday, as the US dollar retreated from a two-decade high scaled in October. The country's FX reserves stood at US$416. ...
5 hours ago
As Musk is learning, content moderation is a messy job
Now that he’s back on Twitter, neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin wants somebody to explain the rules. Anglin, the founder of an infamous neo-Nazi website, was reinstated on Thursday, one of many previously banned users to benefit from an amnesty granted by Twitter's new owner Elon Musk. The next day, Mu ...
10 hours ago
Russia will not export oil subject to Western price cap, says deputy PM
RUSSIA, the world’s second largest oil exporter, will not sell oil that is subject to a Western price cap even if it has to cut production, President Vladimir Putin’s point man on energy said.
11 hours ago
Israel cancels customs duties on South Korean industrial imports
JERUSALEM: Israel's finance minister on Sunday signed an order to eliminate customs duties on agricultural and industrial imports from South Korea, including on cars, as a new free trade agreement between the countries took effect. Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the change, which will ...
11 hours ago
Dollar gives back gains; strong wage growth complicates Fed policy
THE dollar dipped on Friday (Dec 2) as a Federal Reserve official said rate hikes are likely to slow and as investors took profits from earlier gains after jobs data and wage inflation were surprisingly strong in November and muddied the outlook for how hawkish the US central bank will be.
11 hours ago
Inflation will return to goal, say German, French central bankers
EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) officials from the region’s two biggest economies said they are determined to bring record inflation back to their 2 per cent target.
12 hours ago
Shanghai joins Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in easing Covid rules
Bloomberg - Shanghai eased some of its Covid restrictions, joining other top-tier Chinese cities as authorities accelerate a shift toward reopening the economy after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets last weekend to voice their anger at the nation’s stringent policies.The financial hub will scrap ...
12 hours ago
OPEC+ agrees to keep oil production unchanged
Bloomberg - The OPEC+ alliance decided to maintain production at current levels, pausing to take stock of a global oil market that’s roiled by uncertainty over Chinese demand and Russian supply.The 23-nation group has only just implemented the hefty 2 million barrel-a-day reduction agreed at its last gatherin ...
12 hours ago
China traders hunt for long-term reopening winners after frenzy
Bloomberg - As China’s reopening starts to take shape, investor focus is increasingly seen shifting from frenzied stock bets to longer-term plays such as consumer and health-care shares.Money managers are zeroing in on companies that’ll benefit from a reopening-led economic recovery instead of travel and ca ...
12 hours ago
Apple is ‘fully’ advertising on Twitter again: Elon Musk
ELON Musk said Apple has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter, further de-escalating a brewing war between two of the world’s most influential tech companies.
12 hours ago
Powell and the markets talk past each other
Mohamed A. El-Erian - Markets surged on Wednesday after Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, indicated that the world’s most powerful central bank would slow the pace of rate increases this month. The fact that this remark was balanced by warnings about the uncertain outlook for inflation and policy proved irrelev ...
15 hours ago
S-Reits rebound 6% in November
CANDACE LI - THE iEdge S-Reit Index recovered 5.7 per cent in total returns in November, after a 5.6 per cent decline in October. It outperformed the FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Index which gained 3.5 per cent during the same period.
15 hours ago
Fuji Soft proxy fight the latest test of Japan Inc board independence
SINGAPORE-BASED hedge fund 3D Investment Partners got two of its nominees on the board of software developer Fuji Soft Inc on Sunday (Dec 4), in the latest proxy fight by activist investors seeking more independent oversight of Japanese firms.
17 hours ago
Thailand says most institutional investors must pay stock tax
MOST institutional investors in Thailand won’t be exempted from a tax levied on stock transactions that will resume next year after more than three decades, authorities said.
17 hours ago
BOJ's Wakatabe warns risk of 'Japanification' not gone yet
TOKYO : Even as cost-push factors boost inflation, global central banks must be vigilant to the risk of "Japanification", in which their economies face prolonged low inflation and stagnation, said Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe.Various structural factors could weigh ...
17 hours ago
KLCI in the aftermath of Malaysia’s GE
Teo Paul Simon - ON Nov 24, Anwar Ibrahim was named the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia after a five-day political gridlock, after no single coalition was able to secure a majority, resulting in the country’s first hung Parliament. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) rallied strongly, rising 4.04 per cent upon ...
17 hours ago
Opec+ rolls over existing oil output policy
THE Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries alliance (Opec+) has agreed to roll over its existing oil output policy, two Opec+ sources said on Sunday (Dec 4).