Market Snapshot
The Singapore stock market fell 0.6% this week. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding became the most dazzling star with a 12.55% increase.
In terms of other individual stocks, SIA, DBS, OCBC and UOB fell about 1%; Seatrium rose 2.7%; Sheng Siong rose 2%; Sats and NIO about 3%; Keppel DC REIT fell 2.1%; Mapletree Logistics Trust fell 4.4%.
SG Local News
MAS Leaves Monetary Policy Settings Unchanged; Expects Full-Year GDP at 2-3%
Singapore’s central bank left its monetary policy settings unchanged on Friday (Jul 26) for the fifth straight meeting, in line with market expectations, while expecting gross domestic product growth to come in at the higher end of the official forecast range.
“GDP growth is likely to come in closer to its potential rate of 2–3 per cent for the full year,” said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This is at the higher end of the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s forecast range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent.
MAS also lowered its full-year forecast for headline inflation to a range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent, but maintained its core inflation forecast range at 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Singapore June Core Inflation at 2.9% Y/Y, Lowest in More Than 2 Years
Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 2.9% in June from a year earlier, lower than economists' forecasts and the lowest reading since March 2022, official data showed on Tuesday.
The core inflation rate, which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs, was a notch lower than the 3.0% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and compared with 3.1% seen in April and May.
The headline inflation measure in June was up 2.4% from the same month last year, lower than the 2.7% forecast in the poll. It was the lowest annual headline rate since August 2021.
Singapore's GIC Posts Weakest Investment Gains in Four Years
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC's main gauge of investment return posted its weakest growth in four years, and said high interest rates, China economic difficulties and geopolitical tension would keep the investment environment challenging.
GIC on Wednesday posted a 3.9% rise in 20-year annualised real return, its main performance gauge, compared to 4.6% last year. The pace of growth was the slowest since its 2.7% investment return in 2020.
The fund manages $770 billion assets according to estimates from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, and is one of the three entities that manage Singapore's reserves.
Grab No Longer Buying Trans-Cab, Singapore Watchdog Says
Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm, has called off its proposed acquisition of Singapore's third-largest taxi operator, Trans-cab, according to a statement from Singapore's competition watchdog.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said in the statement on Thursday evening that both Grab and Trans-cab had notified it on July 22 that they would no longer be proceeding with the proposed acquisition.
"With the termination of the proposed acquisition, the parties have withdrawn their application to CCCS for a decision, and CCCS has accordingly ended its assessment of the proposed acquisition," CCCS said in the statement.
Grab Buys Singapore's Chope to Add Dining Reservation Service
Ride-hailing and delivery provider Grab Holdings Ltd. acquired Singapore restaurant reservation app Chope for an undisclosed sum, expanding its services as competition over users intensifies.
The deal adds dinner bookings to Grab’s offerings as it seeks to ward off rivals like GoTo Group and Line Man Wongnai in markets including Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Spokespersons for Grab and Chope confirmed the acquisition, which was earlier reported by the Business Times.
Grab is pushing beyond its core services of ride hailing and food delivery, seeking to boost its margins in the cut-throat Southeast Asia market of more than 650 million people. Chope’s booking app has gained popularity in the region, but it too has faced stiff competition in a crowded market.
Singapore's Dengue Cases Already Higher Than All of Last Year
Dengue cases in Singapore this year have already exceeded 2023’s total, as the virus roars back despite improved prevention and control measures.
The Asian city-state recorded 10,111 cases in the first 29 weeks of 2024, and seven deaths in the first quarter, according to data from the National Environment Agency.
There were 9,949 cases and six deaths in total last year — dropping steeply from more than 32,000 in 2022 — after efforts including stepped-up removal of stagnant water led to a 90% drop in the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit the virus.
Singapore Has World's Most Powerful Passport After Unseating Europeans
Singapore edged past France, Germany, Italy and Spain to reclaim bragging rights as having the world’s most powerful passport.
Having a Singapore passport means getting visa-free entry to a record 195 global destinations, putting the city state at the top on the Henley Passport Index. The four European countries, which held the No. 1 spot earlier in the year, are now in second place along with Japan.
Seven nations take the third spot for the first time. Passport holders from Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea and Sweden can enter 191 places hassle-free.
Keppel DC Reit Posts 9.9% Drop in H1 DPU to S$0.04549
KEPPEL DC Reit posted a 9.9 per cent year-on-year decrease in distribution per unit (DPU) to S$0.04549 for the first half of the financial year ended Jun 30, from S$0.05051.
The manager attributed the lower DPU to loss allowance for the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) data centres in Guangdong, China, higher finance costs and the depreciation of foreign currencies against the Singapore dollar.
Finance costs increased 14.1 per cent on the year to S$25.9 million from S$22.7 million.
Mapletree Logistics Trust Q1 FY2025 DPU Falls on Higher Borrowing Costs
Mapletree Logistics Trust’s (MLT) distribution per unit (DPU) fell 8.9 per cent to S$0.02068 for its first quarter ended Jun 30, from S$0.02271 in Q1 FY2024.
MLT’s manager on Wednesday (Jul 24) reported a fall in revenue to S$181.7 million in Q1 FY2025, from S$182.2 million in the year-ago period. This was mainly due to weaker performance in China, the absence of revenue from divested properties, and currency depreciation of the yen and renminbi.
Net property income declined 0.9 per cent to S$156.7 million in Q1 FY2025, from S$158.1 million in Q1 FY2024. The fall was mitigated by higher contributions from the trust’s Singapore and Hong Kong properties, and acquisitions completed within the quarter.
Pfizer Invests $743 Million to Expand Facility in Singapore
Pfizer Inc. has invested S$1 billion ($743 million) to expand its automated active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility in Singapore.
The pharma giant seeks to create over 250 new highly skilled jobs, adding to the existing workforce of several hundred staff in the city-state, the company said in a statement on the Singapore Economic Development Board website on Tuesday.
The facility at Tuas Biomedical Park will produce various small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients, a biologically active drug component, for Pfizer’s oncology, pain and antibiotic medicines. The plant has started commercial manufacturing of products, the statement said.
