UPDATE: Singapore budget 2019: These are the big losers from foreign worker changes
Singapore’s 2019 budget will have some clear losers: Labor-intensive service industries, such as retail, hospitality and food and beverage.
Economy and Trade
Creative Technology lands a mention in Singapore budget 2019
Creative Technology landed a mention in Singapore’s budget speech on Monday, as Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat sought to highlight the importance of the entrepreneurial…
Singapore NODX drops 10.1 percent in January, extending December decline
Singapore’s NODX declined 10.1% on-year in January, off a high year-ago base, extending December’s 8.5% decline, Enterprise Singapore said Monday.
Singapore 4Q18 economic growth slowdown expected to continue into 2019
Singapore’s 4Q18 economic growth slowed to 1.9% on-year as the construction and wholesale & trade sectors contracted, MTI said Friday.
Singapore budget 2019: Hopes for increased spending are too high, BofA-ML says
Hopes for a spending spree in the upcoming Singapore budget are too high, although an expansionary budget is likely, BofA-ML said in a late January note.
Why EC World REIT shows the trade war may not hit all of China’s trade-dependent plays
EC World REIT’s unit price has dropped around 10 percent since its 2016 initial public offering, taking a hit alongside a host of China-focused investments as concerns over the U.S. trade war hurt sentiment.
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust downgraded to Sell from Buy by OCBC after impairment
OCBC downgraded Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, or HPHT, to Sell from Buy after its earnings missed following a large goodwill write-down.
Cash is king as fund managers remain bearish, BofA-ML February survey finds
Fund managers remained bearish, with cash overweights at their highest since the Global Financial Crisis, the BofA-ML February fund manager survey found.
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust reports 4Q18 net loss as trade tensions spur impairments
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust reported Tuesday a 4Q18 net loss of HK$12.11B, swinging from a year-ago profit on impairments related to trade tensions.
Forex trends: US dollar tumbles in wake of dovish comments from Fed
The U.S. dollar dropped sharply in the wake of dovish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve, marking what could be a sea-change in its long-drawn…
Forex trends Friday: British pound rallies on expectations no-deal Brexit will be avoided
Brexit bickering continued in the U.K., but sterling rallied on Thursday, while the euro recovered early losses after the European Central Bank kept policy unchanged,…
Asia market trends Friday: Sentiment buoyant despite renewed US-China trade concerns
Asian markets appear buoyant heading into the open on Friday, despite renewed concerns that the U.S. trade war with China might not see a rapprochement…
Forex trends Thursday: Euro gains despite downbeat growth signals
The euro gained against the dollar, but Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign-exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, said that was on short-covering, not economic…
Asia market trends Thursday: Concerns over global economic growth to damp sentiment
Markets globally continue to fret over signs of slowing global economic growth, and Asia shares may open trade on Thursday under a cloud. “Against a…
Forex trends Wednesday: Sterling rises despite few signs Brexit ‘plan B’ will gain traction
Sterling was higher on Tuesday despite U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan B appearing unlikely to cut the mustard with parliament any better than…
Asia market trends Wednesday: Economic growth concerns set to weigh shares
Concerns over slowing economic growth were set to weigh Asian markets on Wednesday, after dunking Wall Street on Wednesday amid weak home sales data. In…
Forex trends Tuesday: Brexit developments likely in focus
Foreign-exchange markets will likely be eyeing the latest Brexit developments on Tuesday, with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May aiming for a “plan B” deal that…
Asia market trends Tuesday: Growing pessimism over global economic outlook
Asian markets will open Tuesday with fresh signs of pessimism over the outlook for global economic growth. Wall Street will provide few cues on Tuesday…
Forex trends Monday: US government shutdown appears to boost dollar
The U.S. dollar has risen since Friday, despite growing worries the U.S. government shutdown could begin to bite into economic growth. Over the weekend, U.S. President…
Asia market trends Monday: Optimism over US-China trade talks may boost shares
Asia’s markets may gain on Monday, tracking rallies on Wall Street on Friday amid optimism that the U.S. trade war with China may be approaching…
Forex trends Friday: Indonesia’s rupiah could drop if market volatility persists, economist warns
Foreign exchange trading of the majors was on the quiet side on Thursday, but while Indonesia’s rupiah was rangebound after the central bank kept rates…
Asia market trends Friday: Potential boost from hopes US-China trade war may ease
Asian markets may head into the weekend on a high note, potentially tracking Wall Street gains amid signs that U.S.-China trade talks could result in…
UPDATE: Singapore December NODX drops for second straight month
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports, or NODX, dropped 8.5 percent on-year in December, falling for a second month, on a high base a year earlier, according…
Forex trends Thursday: Euro slips amid slowing economic growth, but pound shrugs off Brexit drama
The euro lost ground on Wednesday amid dovish comments from the ECB, but the British pound was fairly steady despite the uptick in Brexit drama….
Asia market trends Thursday: Goldman, BofA earnings beats boost sentiment as Brexit gets a shrug
Asian shares may rise on Thursday, getting a fillip from a buoyant Wall Street after big banks Goldman Sachs and Bank of America reported earning…
Fund managers are most bearish on economy since Financial Crisis, BofA-ML January survey shows
Global fund managers are now at their most bearish on the economy since 2008, during the Global Financial Crisis, with 60 percent expecting growth to…
Forex trends Wednesday: Sterling likely in focus as next Brexit moves eyed
The pound sterling dropped and then recovered on Tuesday as the U.K. Parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject the Brexit deal currently on the table. The…
Asia market trends Wednesday: Brexit concerns may rattle traders
Asia markets may face a choppy open on Wednesday, as concerns over Brexit may be in focus after the U.K. Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the current…
Forex trends Tuesday: Parliament’s Brexit vote closely eyed for sterling direction
The pound sterling may have steadied from its recent losses, but Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign-exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, is calling it…
Asia market trends Tuesday: China concerns may continue to weigh shares
Asian markets are expected to open on Tuesday with negative leads, as Wall Street and oil prices fell, weighed by fresh concerns over slowing economic…
Forex trends Monday: Euro retraces some recent gains amid weaker economic data
The euro gave up some of its recent gains on Friday, while the pound sterling retraced some of its recent losses on hopes the U.K….
Asia market trends Monday: US shutdown, Brexit worries may stall recovery
Shares around the region may stumble on Monday, tracking a trading hiccup on Wall Street on Friday, as geopolitical worries weighed on sentiment, potentially ending…
Forex trends Friday: Euro rallies against dollar; DBS forecasts weaker Singapore dollar
The euro rallied on Thursday amid further dovish signals from U.S. policy makers, while DBS forecast that the Singapore dollar would depreciate this year. In…
Asia market trends Friday: Wall Street extends post-Christmas rally
Asian markets may end the week on a positive note after Wall Street extended gains on Thursday for a fifth straight session amid signs the…
Nomura: Upgrades Philippines shares, downgrades Malaysia in Southeast Asia outlook
Southeast Asian shares are expected to have a better year after a tough 2018, Nomura said, but said it preferred domestic demand stories and was…
Forex trends Thursday: ‘Dovish’ Fed minutes weigh on greenback
The U.S. dollar extended recent declines on Wednesday as the release of the latest Fed meeting minutes spurred expectations the central bank may take a…
Asia market trends Thursday: Optimism over US-China trade talks may fade
Asian markets may stumble on Thursday after a days-long rally, with Japan’s shares opening lower as regional traders may not share Wall Street’s unfettered optimism over…
Forex trends Wednesday: Dollar retraces some recent losses
The dollar steadied and regained some lost ground on Tuesday, as markets walked back some of their more-dovish expectations for U.S. interest rates. Traders had…
Asia market trends Wednesday: Rally may extend amid optimism over US-China trade talks
Asian markets may extend their recent rally on Wednesday, catching some of Wall Street’s optimism that the ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China…
HPHT enters tie-up with Hong Kong port operators to manage combined terminals
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) said on Tuesday that its wholly owned subsidiary Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) entered into a joint operation agreement with Modern…