Thai central bank sees loan guarantee scheme raising credit by $3.2 billion over 1-2 years
BANGKOK, Dec 26 : Thailand's loan guarantee scheme is expected to boost new credit by 100 billion baht ($3.22 billion) over the next one to two years, the country's central bank said on Friday, part of the government's efforts to support smaller firms.The scheme, which will b ...
Data centre race: Singapore betting on quality over scale, say observers
Shikhar Gupta - As the AI race heats up, the city-state is pursuing a ‘sustainable’ data centre strategy – but what stands in the way...
Shopee, Lazada are laying the ground for AI shopping agents. Is a brutal price war looming?
RELYING on artificial intelligence (AI) for gift selection this holiday season may be a stretch, but the e-commerce industry’s move towards AI...
China’s Polar Silk Road takes shape, putting Singapore’s maritime future in focus
Tay Peck Gek - The opening up of Arctic routes and shortening of Asia-Europe voyages could have implications for established shipping hubs, including the city-state
US growth, inflation and market strategy: Franklin Templeton
Samantha Chiew - A volatile mix of policy shocks and technological optimism is shaping Franklin Templeton’s outlook for the US in 2026. Changes in tariff policy have unsettled trade assumptions, stagflation concerns have lingered, and a prolonged government shutdown has complicated the economic read by disrupting ...
Green debt sales hit record levels in 2025 despite climate backlash
Europe has also rolled back some of its toughest environmental rules amid concerns about growth and competitiveness
Korea Zinc confirms payment completion for 2.85 trillion won new shares issuance
SEOUL, Dec 26 : South Korea's Korea Zinc announced in a regulatory filing on Friday that payment for 2.85 trillion won ($1.95 billion) worth of new shares has been completed. The buyer is Crucible JV, the company said.
Singapore factory output rises 14.3% in November, moderating from October’s growth
Paige Lim - All clusters except for general manufacturing recorded growth for the month
Vietnam’s Vingroup to withdraw bid for US$67 billion North-South high-speed railway
The government has said the winner of the project will be announced in January
Ten lessons from a history of disruptions
There are many common reasons how and why business disruptions happen, and are resisted
The economy needs a little bit of unfairness
In some ways, a lack of fairness actually powers the economy forward
Copper hits record in China, jumps in New York on supply concern
Metals have made big gains in December
Asia markets edge up amid thinned holiday trade
Geopolitical worries have grown as Washington pressures Caracas
Gold, silver hit record highs on geopolitical tensions, Fed rate-cut bets
Bullion has staged a stellar rally in 2025, climbing 72% so far and shattering multiple record highs
IndiGo crisis reveals why India’s new air safety rules are vital
The company operates more than 2,000 flights a day
Sembcorp completes purchase of 300 MW solar asset ahead of schedule
Lin Daoyi - Sembcorp Industries announced on Boxing Day that its subsidiary Sembcorp Green Infra has completed the acquisition of a 100% stake in Indian solar operator ReNew Sun Bright earlier than expected. The deal, worth $246 million, was first announced on Oct 8 and estimated to be completed in 1H2026. It i ...
Shine, market, shine
The Edge Singapore - Market activity finally picked up in 2025, with the positive momentum expected to continue in 2026. Brokers share what’s hot and what’s not The year 2025 will go down as a vintage year for Singapore market participants find themselves in a better mood as concerted efforts to revive Singapore equ ...
Singapore in 2026: Keep calm and carry on
Manu Bhaskaran - A year ago, as we put our thoughts together on Singapore’s prospects for 2025, we expected a period of significant turbulence that would hinder our growth outlook. In the end, there was indeed significant turbulence in geopolitics, trade, financial markets and technology. But things did not fall a ...
Philippines’ public agency increases stake in GIC-backed Emperador to above 5%
Lin Daoyi - In a bourse filing on Dec 26, Emperador Inc has announced that the Philippines’ Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has acquired 131,300,000 shares in the company over the past 60 days. As a result, the GSIS has become a substantial shareholder and now holds a total of 823,196,500 shares, o ...
With market review measures in place, is Singapore’s delisting wave finally peaking?
Samantha Chiew - Up till early this year, Singapore’s equity market went through a stark shrinkage. There was a clear trend of delistings outpacing new listings on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), as controlling shareholders of companies lost patience with the valuations accorded to their companies. IPO sentiment has ...
Spot silver extends rally to hit $75 per ounce for first time
Dec 26 : Spot silver climbed to $75 an ounce on Friday, supported by robust industrial and investment demand, tightening inventories, geopolitical tensions and expectations of further U.S. interest rate cuts.Silver prices rose 3.5 per cent to $74.46 per ounce by 0229 GMT, after ...
Addvalue Technologies’ near five-fold surge to space leads SGX stocks this year
Teo Zheng Long and Samantha Chiew - Singapore’s capital market participants will remember 2025 with some fond-ness. While the year started rather calmly, news, chatter and noise caused waves in the markets as the year went by. Trade tensions and tariffs aside, what really caused market sentiment to rise this year were efforts made b ...
MetaOptics’ five-fold post-IPO gain leads this year’s crop of new issues
Teo Zheng Long - With renewed interest in the Singapore market, momentum in the fundraising activities is picking up as well. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is finally seeing a return of new and meaningful IPOs this year. This year, there were a total of 13 IPOs, versus just four in 2024. With the most recent new list ...
Singapore considering sixth desalination plant to safeguard water security
PUB says a tender will be called on Dec 26 for a study for such a facility
Oil rises as market weighs Venezuela supply risks
Brent and WTI prices are on track to drop about 16% and 18%, respectively, this year
Structural growth driving generous dividends from banks
Goola Warden - Local banks are emerging as a hybrid of sorts, trapped in the sweet spot between growth stocks and yield stocks. Whether banks can continue with their generous dividends and capital returns will depend on their growth prospects. The local banks’ minimum payout ratios are 50% of net profit. Hence, ...
Boom or bust? Analysts have wildly different views on South Korean chip players like SK Hynix
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - South Korea’s flagship Kospi index has been on a tear in 2025, driven by the country’s corporate “Value-Up” programme to boost shareholder returns as well as its critical role in chip manufacturing. Memory chip makers like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have seen their stocks go up by 217% ...
Analysts see upside for Pop Mart, but Labubu collectors think otherwise
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - Ripple Sim bought her first Labubu dolls in August 2024 and hasn’t stopped since. The event stylist reports spending over $3,000 on her collection, which includes more than 50 Labubu figures in various sizes and costumes. That’s not including all the other toys she has bought from Pop Mart. The ...
Oil price steady as market mulls potential supply risks
LONDON, Dec 26 : Oil prices were stable on Friday as investors weighed potential supply risks from developing geopolitical tensions in a thinly-attended post-Christmas session, after the U.S. carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Nigeria and added greater economic pressure on ...
Oil rises slightly as market weighs supply risks
Dec 26 : Oil prices rose slightly on Friday after the U.S. put greater economic pressure on Venezuelan oil shipments and carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of the government in Abuja.Brent crude futures rose 6 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $62. ...
Oil falls $1 on looming supply glut, hopes for Ukraine peace deal
HOUSTON, Dec 26 : Oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel on Friday as investors weighed a looming global supply glut and a reduced war risk premium, amid hopes of a Ukraine peace deal ahead of talks this weekend between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump.Bre ...
It’s not just K-pop. Korean instant noodles are taking over the world too
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - For most people, instant noodles are a convenience food and something to be quickly whipped together for a late-night supper. But for some fans of ramyeon, the Korean version of instant noodles, the simple dish is their number one go-to food option, even when they are dining out as well. Chloe Lim o ...
Internal vs external: hot potato or hot AIR?
Goola Warden - The debate over an internally managed REIT model versus an externally managed REIT model may have been put to rest following the performance of CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) and Link REIT. On the other hand, Singapore now has its first internally managed REIT: Alpha Integrated REIT ( ...
More than 80% of billionaires want children to succeed independently: UBS survey
Lin Daoyi - A study by UBS found that 82% of its billionaire clients hope their children will succeed in their own right without relying on inheritance. This finding was one of many shared in the UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025, which was issued on Dec 4. The report cited billionaire parents’ aspiration ...
