Elise Hong becomes first woman to head Singapore precision engineering body

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – The Singapore Precision Engineering & Technology Association (Speta), which serves the traditionally male-dominated industry, will now be led by a woman for the first time since its founding in 1982. Elise Hong, the co-founder and chief executive of JCS-Echigo, which makes and supplies precision-cleaning machines and services for the hard-disk drive industry, was elected the […]

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ANALYSIS-Execution risk looms large for South Africa spending cuts plan

* Economy was in trouble before COVID-19 pandemic * Treasury aims to narrow deficit, lower debt * Public sector unions demand higher wages JOHANNESBURG, March 18 (Reuters) – South Africa’s pledge to curb its huge public sector wage bill and stabilise state finances has been praised by investors, but now comes the hard part — convincing workers to back the […]

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EMA seeks proposals for trial to import electricity from Malaysia

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) is seeking proposals to appoint an importer for a two-year trial to import electricity from Malaysia. The imported electricity should preferably be from low-carbon sources, EMA said in a statement yesterday. It added that proposals for electricity imported from coal-fired generation sources will not be accepted. The trial aims to test the technical and regulatory […]

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South Korea factory activity expands at fastest pace in almost 11 years

SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea’s factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 11 years in February, a private survey showed on Tuesday (March 2), as the strongest growth in over a decade in production and new orders drove the recovery in the manufacturing-heavy economy. The IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) jumped to 55.3 in February from 53.2 […]

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China factory activity expands at slower pace in February, misses expectations

BEIJING (REUTERS) – China’s factory activity expanded in February at a slower pace than a month earlier, hitting the lowest level since last May and missing market expectations after brief Covid-19-related disruptions earlier in the year. The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) fell to 50.6 from 51.3 in January, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on […]

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UPDATE 1-Reflation trades set euro zone bonds for worst week in months

* German 10-year yield set for biggest weekly jump since August * Italian 10-year yield set for biggest weekly jump since April * PMIs largely in line with expectations (Rewrites throughout, adds details and charts, updates prices) AMSTERDAM, Feb 19 (Reuters) – German and Italian bonds were set for their worst weekly performance in months on Friday, driven up by […]

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Singapore non-oil exports rise better-than-expected 12.8% in January

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) surged 12.8 per cent in January from the low base a year ago, driven by shipments of specialised machinery, non-monetary gold, petrochemicals and electronics. This was the fastest pace of growth since June, and topped economists’ expectations for a 5.4 per cent rise, according to a Reuters poll. Nodx rose 6.8 per cent year-on-year in December, its second straight month […]

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UPDATE 2-'Reflation' trade pushes German Bund yields to 8-month highs

* German 10-year yields hit highest since June * U.S. 10yr Treasury yields top 1.25% * Over 100 bln euros demand for Italy bond sale * Ultra long euro zone debt under-performs in selloff * Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr (Updates prices) LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – German 10-year bond yields hit their highest level since June on […]

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China overtakes US as EU's biggest trading partner

BRUSSELS (AFP) – China last year overtook the United States as the EU’s biggest trading partner, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said on Monday (Feb 15). Britain meanwhile, which is no longer part of the European Union, was the third-largest trading partner for the bloc, behind China and the United States, the agency said. The supremacy of China came after […]

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Singapore economy to grow by 4-6% this year; 2020 contraction shaved to 5.4%

SINGAPORE – The Singapore economy will grow by 4.0 to 6.0 per cent this year, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Monday (Feb 15), maintaining its forecast announced last November,  after weighing positive and negative developments in key external economies. The ministry raised its final estimate for coronavirus-hit 2020, stating that the economy shrank by 5.4 per cent for Singapore’s worst-ever […]

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