Singapore Retail Sales Up 9.1 Per cent in March
by Jared Heng Retail sales in Singapore rose 9.1 per cent year-on-year in March, the Department of Statistics (DOS) said on Tuesday. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales increased 6.5 per cent. According to the DOS, retailers of motor vehicles registered a 17.8-per cent increase in sales in March, compared with a year ago. Retailers of...
Singapore to Closely Monitor Shoebox Units Market
by Ernie B. Calucag The Singapore government on Monday said that it is closely monitoring the transactions within the shoebox apartments market as these tiny homes are slowly becoming a hot property in Singapore. “The market is a lot cooler than it was say one year ago, although there are little pockets of hot activities...
Air India Scraps 16 More Flights amid Pilot Unrest
Source: AFP India’s struggling flagship carrier Air India on Monday cancelled 16 international flights as hundreds of pilots stayed away from work during a wildcat strike that has lasted one week. A company spokesman said about 350 pilots had reported sick as part of a strategy to press the management to accept their demands in...
Asia is Safe from Europe’s Woes, says Fitch
Source: AFP Asian economies are better shielded from Europe’s financial woes than other regions and China is unlikely to undergo a “hard landing” despite recent gloomy data, credit watchdog Fitch said Monday. In a media telephone conference, the US-based firm’s head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns Andrew Colquhoun said Asia’s limited exposure to European banks would...
Pimco Sees China’s 2012 Growth at 13-year Low
Source: Bloomberg China’s slowdown may deepen as policymakers unwind the excesses of a record credit boom while gradually stepping up stimulus, leaving 2012 growth at the weakest in 13 years, Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco) said. “The economy is unlikely to bottom until the third quarter,” Ramin Toloui, Pimco’s global co-head of emerging markets...
KXD Digital Files for Liquidation
by Ernie B. Calucag Mainboard-listed Chinese multimedia firm KXD Digital Entertainment said Monday that it has made a court application to be wound up as it is unable to pay its debts. KXD, which has been caught in a police investigation, has proposed the appointment of Yit Chee Wah Steven of FTI Consulting (Singapore) to...
Inflation to Stay at 5 Per cent in the Next Few Months
by Ernie B. Calucag Singapore’s inflation is likely to remain elevated at around 5 per cent in the next few months, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang told Parliament on Monday. “Barring external shocks, we expect this to ease gradually in the second half of the year to bring full-year CPI inflation to between...
European Stocks Drop on Greek Deadlock, Merkel’s Setback
Source: Bloomberg European stocks fell as Greece moved closer to a possible exit from the euro currency union and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party lost a state election. US index futures and Asian shares also declined. Banks paced losses, with HSBC Holdings Plc dropping 1.6 per cent. Infineon Technologies AG, Europe’s second-largest semiconductor maker,...
Yuan Declines Most in Four Weeks after PBOC Weakens Fixing Rate
Source: Bloomberg The yuan dropped the most in four weeks after China’s central bank set a weaker daily rate and cut banks’ reserve requirements, reflecting concern over slowing economic growth. The People’s Bank of China lowered the reference rate by 0.14 per cent to 6.3040 per dollar, the weakest level since April 20. The...
Euro-region Industrial Production Unexpectedly Falls in March
Source: Bloomberg European industrial production unexpectedly declined in March, as lower output in countries from Spain to France offset gains in Germany. Production in the 17-nation euro area slipped 0.3 per cent from February, when it advanced 0.8 per cent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said Monday. Economists had forecast a gain of...
Tech: ‘Granny Nav’ to Guide Elderly Drivers on the Road
Source: Reuters Older drivers may now be able to stay on the road for longer thanks to new technology being developed by scientists that uses pictures of mail boxes or pubs as visual turning cues. Nicknamed “Granny Nav”, the technology is being developed as part of a GBP12-million (US$19.34-million) programme by the UK’s Research Council...
Japan’s Panasonic Books Record US$9.67-billion Annual Loss
Source: AFP Panasonic posted a record US$9.67-billion annual loss as one of Japan’s flagship companies was hammered by a strong currency, natural disasters and stiff competition from foreign rivals. The JPY772.2-billion shortfall, one of the worst-ever losses for a non-financial Japanese firm, comes as the consumer electronics giant reshuffles its boardroom and overhauls its...
