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TEMASEK Holdings has removed all direct references to Singapore and the government in its updated charter - a move seen as part of its efforts to bolster its credentials as an investment firm driven solely by commercial interests.
US President Barack Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman yesterday, aiming for continuity at a time when the US economy is breaking free from a deep recession. Mr Obama said the US car industry was 'showing signs of life' and business investment was stabilising. The housing and credit markets had also been saved from collapse, he said.
US unemployment will surge to 10 per cent this year and the budget deficit will widen to US$1.5 trillion next year, reflecting a 'deeper recession' than previously expected, White House budget chief Peter Orszag said. The Office of Management and Budget also forecasts that the US economy will shrink 2.8 per cent this year, worse than the 1.2 per cent contraction that it had projected in May.
UOB Asset Management has forged an alliance with UTI, one of India's biggest fund managers, to offer joint funds and investment services. UOBAM, the fund management unit of United Overseas Bank, said yesterday that the first joint product will be an equity fund, likely to be launched this year.
SINGAPORE bank ratings outlooks are held at negative even as profits improve as the state of the economy is still poor and there is a risk that loan defaults may rise, Moody's Investors Service said in a report yesterday.
WING Tai Holdings yesterday reported a net loss of $53.9 million for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2009, as it booked fair value losses of $109.7 million on its investment properties. Net profit in the same three months a year ago was $96.3 million. Revenue in the three months, however, rose 78 per cent to $191.5 million, from $107.3 million in Q4 2008.
THE Lexicon Group is going into yet another new venture. This time around it will run coffeehouses as a diversification into F&B businesses. Yesterday, the company said that it is setting up a joint venture with TNT Global to sell coffee and operate coffeehouses and cafes under the 'Tom N Toms' brand.
LAUNCH prices for new private homes rose 10 per cent and 18 per cent in prime and mass districts respectively in the first half of 2009, according to UBS Investment Research. On the back of this, analysts Regina Lim and Michael Lim now expect prime prices to rise 18 per cent from here to 2007 peak by end 2010, as interest continues to improve and foreigners start to buy.
CHINESE investors have over-reacted to talk of monetary policy fine-tuning, and the recent sell-off in the stock market will be short-lived, a senior government economist said yesterday. Lu Zhongyuan, vice-head of the Development Research Centre, told a financial forum that he expected share prices to recover gradually because the recovery in China's economy was solid.
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