Market Snapshot
The Singapore stock market rose 0.3% this week. Singapore Airlines rose 0.5%; Singtel rose 3.5%; iFast rose 2.2%; ST Engineering rose 1.5%; Genting Singapore and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 1.2%; while Seatrium fell 9%; Thai Beverage fell 2.1%; Sats fell 1.7%; NIO fell 1.6%; Sheng Siong fell 1.3%.
SG Local News
S’Pore Reclaims Top Spot in World Competitiveness Ranking After Three Years
After being adrift for the past three years, Singapore climbed three rungs and regained the top spot in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking in 2024 against a field of 67.
“Singapore’s performance marks a return to form; last occupying first place in 2020, it then fell to fifth, third, and finally fourth in the following years, while Denmark and Switzerland performed a tussle for power over the top spot,” said the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which produces the benchmark based on 333 competitiveness criteria.
Coming in ahead of Switzerland and Denmark, the Republic posted robust performances across all four categories that comprise economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
Among these, Singapore stood out for business efficiency by clinching the top spot among its peers on the index for the underlying factors of labour market – up three spots – and attitudes and values with a 12-position climb. It also shot up 21 rungs to the No. 2 spot in terms of management practices.
Singapore Home Sales Decline for Second Month on Muted Demand
Singapore's new-home sales fell for a second month, as weak demand and a lack of major launches continued to weigh on the market.
Just 221 units were sold by developers in May, down from 301 in April, according to monthly data released Tuesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. From a year earlier, transactions slid 79%. Sales in the first half are on pace for the lowest in more than a decade.
High interest rates and government cooling measures have slowed Singapore's once-booming residential market. The city-state is also set to see an influx of new supply in coming quarters, amid a drive by policymakers to tackle concerns about housing affordability.
Singapore's Re-Entry Rate of Retrenched Workers Down, Job Vacancies up in Q1
Fewer retrenched residents in Singapore are finding work within six months, while the number of job vacancies in Singapore continued to climb in the first quarter of 2024, indicated the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Labour Market Report on Thursday (Jun 20).
The rate of re-entry fell to 59.4 per cent in Q1 from 61.5 per cent the previous quarter. The fall was driven by the information and communications, financial and insurance services, as well as professional services sectors.
Still, more than half of the residents retrenched in these sectors were able to find new jobs within six months after being laid off, said MOM.
Singapore's Air Freight up 20% in May; Port's Box Throughput Highest This Year
With the congestion at sea benefiting air transport, Singapore’s Changi Airport reported 170,000 tonnes in air freight handled in May, a 20 per cent year-on-year (yoy) jump from 142,000 tonnes.
Statistics published by Changi Airport Group on Monday (Jun 17) showed that the freight movement was the second-highest in the first five months this year. Only March’s numbers were higher, at 176,000 tonnes or a 15.3 per cent rise yoy, but May’s 20 per cent jump was the biggest this year.
Freight handled by Changi Airport has been charting yoy rises every month this year so far. For the January-to-May period, total freight rose 14.9 per cent yoy to 803,000 tonnes.
Although more cargo was being sent by air, the ports were not less busy. In fact, container throughput at Singapore’s port hit the highest level this year in May – 3.5 million 20-foot-equivalent units (or TEUs, the dimension of standard shipping containers).
SIA Group Passenger Traffic Rises 10.2% in May
Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group reported a 10.2 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger traffic in May 2024, as demand for air travel remained robust.
During the month, Singapore Airlines and Scoot carried 3.2 million passengers in total, 14.3 per cent higher than a year ago, the group said on Tuesday (Jun 18) as it reported its operating results for May. Passenger capacity increased by 12.6 per cent.
As a result, group passenger load factor stood at 86.1 per cent, with SIA and its low-cost airline arm Scoot posting monthly passenger load factors of 85.6 per cent and 88.1 per cent, respectively.
KKR, Singtel to Invest $1.3 Billion in Data-Center Firm STT GDC
A consortium of KKR & Co. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. agreed to invest S$1.75 billion ($1.3 billion) for a minority stake in Asian digital infrastructure provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres.
The KKR-led group plans to make the investment in the closely held data center company known as STT GDC via redeemable preference shares and warrants, the companies said in a statement Tuesday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. Upon the exercise of the warrants in full, the consortium will invest an additional S$1.24 billion.
Following the investment, KKR will own about 14.1% in STT GDC, while Singtel, as the telecom group owned by wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte. is known, will hold 4.2%, according to a separate statement.
Shell to Acquire Singaporean LNG Firm Pavilion Energy from Temasek
Shell Plc agreed to buy liquefied natural gas trader Pavilion Energy Pte, the latest bet by the oil major that demand for the fuel will continue rising.
The acquisition will consolidate more assets in the hands of what is already the world’s biggest LNG player, at a time when demand for LNG expands faster than other fossil fuels. Major energy producers, including Shell and Chevron Corp., assert that gas will play a long-term role in the transition away from dirtier coal.
The transaction will involve Shell purchasing all of Pavilion’s shares from Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte, according to a statement from the Singaporean firm. Temasek expects the transaction to be completed by the first quarter of 2025 but didn’t disclose further details.
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