Russia's internet crackdown hobbles small businesses
MOSCOW, May 8 : Russian dogwear entrepreneur Natalia Kukovinets has had to switch messaging apps multiple times to stay in touch with customers, one of many web-dependent businesses struggling with the Kremlin's widening internet crackdown.Restrictions on popular messenger apps such as Telegram ...
Companies must get the basics right to ride this market
Teo Zheng Long - The local market has seen a sharp pick-up in activity. Straits Times Index component stocks led the rally, and smaller caps are now having their moment in the sun. Investors enjoy the thrill of discovering “hidden” gems and riding the wave as others pile in before interest shifts elsewhere. Howe ...
A blue ocean? SingHaiyi bets on Loyang Valley plot
Gerine Tang Yi Qian - When Loyang Valley was put up for collective sale for the third time last September at $880 million — $100 million below its 2022 asking price — it drew no bids. This was hardly surprising. The area has long carried an “ulu” (Malay for remote) reputation, with perceptions of limited amenitie ...
7 in 10 Malaysian manufacturing firms report worsening outlook amid Middle East conflict: survey
Tan Ai Leng - Depleting inventories, cash-flow strains and rising freight costs are eroding manufacturers’ margins
Countries need to conserve fiscal firepower amid oil crisis: IMF
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - The energy shock from the war in Iran is testing governments worldwide. Oil-importing countries have been hit hardest, with India shuttering hotels and universities amid the crisis. Even Malaysia, despite ample fuel supplies, is feeling the strain as it works to sustain its fuel subsidy programme, w ...
Nintendo forecasts 16.5 million annual Switch 2 sales, hikes prices
TOKYO, May 8 : Nintendo said on Friday it expects to sell 16.5 million Switch 2 units in the financial year ending March 2027 and for operating profit to rise 2.7 per cent to 370 billion yen ($2.36 billion). • Nintendo sold 19.9 million Switch 2 units in the financial year ended March 31.• Ninte ...
Nintendo forecasts 2.7% rise in full-year operating profit
TOKYO, May 8 : Nintendo on Friday forecast operating profit would rise 2.7 per cent to 370 billion yen ($2.36 billion) in the financial year ending March 2027.($1 = 156.8200 yen)
A-Sonic Aerospace leans on acquisitions and buybacks to close valuation gap
Teo Zheng Long - For A-Sonic Aerospace’s (SGX: BTJ ) (A-Sonic) CEO Janet LC Tan, her journey in founding the company was driven more by her work experience than formal education. In a recent interview with The Edge Singapore, she recalls never really getting along with books during her school days. “After my sec ...
No AI, poor returns drive Indian investors to foreign markets
India is only about 3% of the global equity market
Toyota sees 20% drop in annual profit as Iran war weighs
The world’s top-selling automaker expects an operating income of 3 trillion yen in the year to March 2027
Commerzbank to cut 3,000 jobs in bid to hit profit targets, as it fends off UniCredit takeover
The bank upgrades a series of financial targets, foreseeing higher profit and revenues by 2028
Stayin’ Live
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - TikTok continues to draw live sellers in a post-pandemic world Before Covid-19 hit, former café owner Christina Gwee says she never imagined she would be making a living online. Today, the small business owner is better known for her online persona, “Aunty Jin”, Gwee’s alter ego boasts 7,500 ...
One gateway to Thailand? Singapore startups tap Bangkok’s Rise to reach corporates
Rise positions itself as the intermediary between large corporations and startups
Mitsui O.S.K. says its vessels did not pay fees transiting Hormuz
TOKYO, May 8 : Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) said on Friday three of its vessels that transited the Strait of Hormuz and exited the Gulf in April did not pay transit fees, sticking to a principle of navigation under international law.Tehran has proposed fees or tolls on vessels passing thro ...
ASTI Holdings: The company nobody wanted to rescue
Julian Wong - Every semiconductor chip used in consumer electronics is first placed into a plastic carrier tape, sealed, and wound onto a reel. This allows the chips to be fed into automated assembly machines with maximum efficiency. Without this step, modern electronics manufacturing would grind to a halt. Since ...
ASTI Holdings: The company nobody wanted to rescueASTI Hol
Julian Wong - Every semiconductor chip used in consumer electronics is first placed into a plastic carrier tape, sealed, and wound onto a reel. This allows the chips to be fed into automated assembly machines with maximum efficiency. Without this step, modern electronics manufacturing would grind to a halt. Since ...
RBC lifts S&P 500 year-end target to 7,900 on AI optimism
May 8 : RBC Capital Markets raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 7,900 from 7,750 on Friday, citing resilient earnings growth and continued strength in artificial intelligence‑linked sectors.The Canadian brokerage's new target implies a 7.7 per cent upside from the benchmark inde ...
Opec’s obituary has been written many times, yet it survives
Azam Aris - The obituary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), born in 1960, has been written many times, notably by Western journalists and analysts. Every time its demise was predicted, Opec not only survived but grew stronger. The West despised Opec. What the five original members ...
Guess as you will about the current investment climate
Andrew Sheng - Finance is a derivative of the real sector. Global bond markets reflect largely the credit-borrowing requirements of governments, whereas stock markets reflect the top companies that generate profits and innovation to support the economy’s competitive standing. While advanced countries (mostly the ...
GIC, Brookfield complete privatisation of ASX-listed National Storage REIT
Jovi Ho - GIC and Brookfield have completed their acquisition of National Storage REIT (NSR), Australia and New Zealand’s largest owner and operator of self-storage facilities. The two global investment firms had announced the deal in December 2025. In a joint announcement on May 8 announcing the financial ...
Nasdaq-SGX tie-up may add sparkle to Singapore tech
Nirgunan Tiruchelvam - It’s been 29 years since my first night out in Singapore. Though my hair has greyed, the memories are fresh. The evening began on Mohammed Sultan Road, where a row of shophouses had been turned into bars. My hosts then took me to the Hard Rock Café. The line to that restaurant off Orchard Road wa ...
A new economics for the 21st century
Mariana Mazzucato and Lara Merling - In the run-up to this year’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings, the one story that cut through the noise was that the World Bank had embraced industrial policy after decades of advising against it. But while much of the ensuing debate focused on whether this “U-turn” i ...
Toyota expects $4.3 billion hit from effects of Iran war
TOKYO, May 8 : Japan's Toyota expects the effects of the Iran war to cost it about $4.3 billion this financial year, in one of the most significant warnings yet by a global company on the wider impact of the conflict.The world's largest automaker reported an almost 50 per cent drop in quar ...
Toyota expects $4.3 billion hit from Iran war
TOKYO, May 8 : Toyota expects fallout from the Iran war to cost it around $4.3 billion this financial year, the world's largest automaker said on Friday, in one of the biggest warnings yet on the impact of the crisis on global companies. Toyota reported an almost 50 per cent drop in quarterly e ...
Toyota expects $4.3 billion hit from Iran war fallout
TOKYO, May 8 : Toyota expects the fallout from the Iran war to cost it around $4.3 billion this financial year, the world's largest automaker said on Friday, in one of the biggest warnings yet on the impact of the crisis on global companies. Toyota reported an almost 50 per cent drop in quarter ...
Toyota halves quarterly profit as Iran crisis hits
TOKYO, May 8 : Toyota halved its quarterly profit in an earnings report on Friday and forecast a decline of 20 per cent in the year that just started, as rising costs and supply snarls from the Iran war outweighed surging demand for hybrid vehicles. The results from the world's top-selling auto ...
The real private-credit risk is opacity, not leverage
Amit Seru - Private credit has become a major source of financial anxiety, reflecting growing concerns about rising defaults, tighter liquidity, and the entry of retail investors into a market designed for institutions. But the debate is focusing on the wrong issue. The question is not whether private credit is ...
Why the plumbing should come before AI agents
Nurdianah Md Nur - Only six in 100 companies that have deployed artificial intelligence (AI) have generated economic returns above 10%, says Vinayak HV, senior partner and leader of technology and AI practice for Asia Pacific at McKinsey & Company. “[Success is not based solely on the] models which are learning, ...
OCBC open to returning share buyback portion of $800 mil in special dividends; HSBC acquisition a good fit
Felicia Tan and Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) (SGX: O39 ) , which still has some $800 million outstanding for share buybacks as part of its capital return plan, may distribute special dividends. “We will be monitoring the situation to see if conditions are feasible or conducive for further buybacks. ...
Talking in circles in China
Daryl Guppy - Recirculation is an endless cycle (excuse the pun) in China. I promise this will be the last note on this concept, which is so important for working effectively in China. Westerners know they are working in a foreign environment, but so too are Singaporeans. Although there are remnants of Chinese be ...
Freeport Indonesia pushes back Grasberg copper restart by a year
Prices for the metal have surged to a record in January on a wave of speculative buying
Lim and Tan Securities raises Beng Kuang Marine target to 69 cents
Lin Daoyi - Nicholas Yon of Lim and Tan Securities has reinforced his “buy” call on Beng Kuang Marine by raising his valuation of the counter to 69 cents per share in his May 8 report. In his previous initiation report on March 31, Yon valued Beng Kuang at 53.5 cents per share. His confidence comes on the b ...
Why investment resilience now matters more than optimism
Conrad Dequadros - The first quarter of 2026 delivered a pointed reminder that markets rarely move along a single axis. Investors are grappling with multiple shocks: a conflict in the Middle East that is disrupting energy supplies, ongoing uncertainties in global trade and supply chains, concerns about AI investment i ...
Anthropic weighs fundraising for near $1 trillion valuation, FT reports
May 8 : Anthropic is weighing raising tens of billions of dollars this summer to fund a major expansion in computing capacity, a move that could lift its valuation to nearly $1 trillion and put it ahead of rival OpenAI, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
