Daily Debrief: What Happened Today (Jun 9)
Will deglobalisation and business uncertainty hurt buying power in Good Class Bungalow properties?
[SINGAPORE] Owning a detached home in a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area is arguably the ultimate status symbol for the super rich in land-scarce Singapore.
CapitaLand Investment expands fund with Japan asset acquisition at 30 billion yen
[SINGAPORE] CapitaLand Investment (CLI) on Monday (Jun 9) announced that it secured additional capital commitments from new and existing institutional investors for its value-add lodging private fund, CapitaLand Ascott Residence Asia Fund II (Clara II).
CDL's high debt and interest costs continue to weigh on stock despite South Beach sale
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[SINGAPORE] News of City Developments Ltd's (CDL) sale of its 50.1 per cent majority stake in the South Beach mixed project put some bounce in the property developer's share price last week, but analysts were less sanguine, due to the company's high debt and interest costs.
Income Insurance chairman Ronald Ong to retire from role after seven years at helm
[SINGAPORE] Income Insurance chairman Ronald Ong, 69, will retire from his role after seven years at the helm, the company announced on Monday (Jun 9).
MoneyHero expands into digital assets in partnership with OSL
[SINGAPORE] MoneyHero, a leading personal finance aggregation and comparison platform across Greater South-east Asia on Monday (Jun 9) announced a strategic collaboration with digital asset platform OSL Group.
Singapore stocks close Monday higher ahead of US-China talks; STI up 0.1%
[SINGAPORE] Local stocks rose on Monday (Jun 9), in line with gains in Asian markets on hopes that a fresh round of US-China trade talks will ease tensions. Investors also digested the latest China inflation and trade data.
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Business Times
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South Korea pitches Trump on shipyards for last-minute trade deal
[SEOUL] South Korea is pitching the US on a shipbuilding partnership as a key proposal to seal a last-minute agreement to avoid a 25 per cent tariff rate. While details remain unclear, Yonhap News reported that South Korea has proposed a multi-billion dollar project dubbed 'Make American Shipbuilding Great Again'. South Korea's Industry Ministry declined to comment. 'We confirmed the US side's strong interest in the shipbuilding sector and the two countries agreed to work together to develop mutually acceptable terms that include shipbuilding cooperation,' South Korea's presidential office said on Saturday (Jul 26). As countries across Asia clinched deals last week, Seoul's negotiators have been racing to stay engaged with their US counterparts as Washington shifted its focus to the European Union and China. The US and EU announced a pact on Sunday that will see the bloc face 15 per cent tariffs on most of its exports to the US, including automobiles. The latest agreement, which follows a Japan deal last week, adds to the pressure on Asia's fourth-largest economy to clinch a deal. South Korea, where negotiations have been slowed by internal political turmoil, is one of the biggest Asian economies to still be without a deal. Aside from China, other major exporters in the region that are in the thick of negotiations include India and Taiwan. South Korea's finance and foreign ministers are set to meet with their US counterparts this week in a last-minute bid to close the negotiations and the government in Seoul has said the two countries are committed to making a deal before US President Donald Trump's Aug 1 deadline. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Also on the table is increased access to South Korea's agricultural market, as well as a fund to invest in American projects similar to an agreement Japan struck. Under the deal, the two sides touted a US$550 billion fund as part of the agreement on the tariff rate dropping to 15 per cent. The South Korean talks are similarly focused on reaching a 15 per cent tariff rate, including for autos, and the recent proposals suggest a comparable structure. Putting agricultural imports on the table raises the stakes for South Korea's new government. Past efforts to open the country's beef market sparked nationwide protests and any shift on rice imports could face even stiffer resistance. Barring a deal, Bloomberg Economics estimates a 1.7 per cent hit to South Korea's gross domestic product, with market volatility and uncertainty threatening to push the GDP losses beyond that. Overseas shipments were equivalent to more than 40 per cent of South Korea's GDP last year. 'Japan's trade deal paints a positive backdrop but also sets a high bar for others,' Morgan Stanley economist Kathleen Oh said in a note last week. 'Korea and Taiwan may need to ramp up new investment schemes to increase agricultural and energy imports and expand market access, as seen in Japan's case.' BLOOMBERG
Business Times
34 minutes ago
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Japan expects only 1% to 2% of $550 billion US fund to be investment
[TOKYO] Japan expects only 1 to 2 per cent of its recently agreed upon US$550 billion US fund to be in the form of actual investment, with the bulk of it being loans, according to the nation's top chief negotiator Ryosei Akazawa. At the same time, Tokyo would save roughly 10 trillion yen (S$87 billion) through lower tariff rates in its deal with America, he said. The US$550 billion investment framework will be a combination of investments, loans and loan guarantees provided by financial institutions backed by the Japanese government, Akazawa said on public broadcaster NHK on Saturday (Jul 26) night. Of the total, investment would be worth 1 per cent or 2 per cent and the US and Japan would split the profits of that investment at a ratio of 90-10, he said. Japan had originally proposed a 50-50 ratio, he added. The fund is a centrepiece of the deal announced by the two sides that will impose 15 per cent tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods. But the details given by Akazawa suggest the Japanese may end up giving up much less than at first glance. The comments come as officials from countries with deals with the US sift through the terms to explain to the public what they entail. 'It's not that US$550 billion in cash will be sent to the US,' Akazawa said. 'By letting the US have 90 per cent of the profits rather than 50 per cent, I think Japan's loss will be at most a couple of tens of billions of yen. People are saying various things, such as 'You sold out Japan', but they are wrong.' For the loans provided through the programme, Japan will simply be collecting the interest payments, and for the loan guarantees, if nothing happens, Japan will also be just collecting fees, Akazawa said. 'For that part, Japan's just making money,' he said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Akazawa also clarified that the investment programme will not be only supporting Japanese and US firms. As a potential example, he cited a Taiwanese semiconductor firm building a factory in the US. 'We'd like to put the US$550 billion in place during President Trump's term,' Akazawa added. Further details of the implementation of the US-Japan deal remain unclear, including when the new tariff rates would take effect and when the new investment vehicle would kick off. There's been no joint document signed by both sides for the deal, although the White House has published a fact sheet. 'If you say something like, 'Let's create a joint document,' they will say, 'We will lower tariffs after the document is created,'' Akazawa said. In order not to lose time, 'we will demand that they issue an executive order to lower tariffs as soon as possible, regardless of a document'. Last week, Akazawa said that he expects universal tariffs on Japan's shipments to be lowered to 15 per cent on Aug 1, while he said he wanted the car tariffs to be cut to 15 per cent as soon as possible without specifying a date. The Trump administration has touted the deal with Japan as a potential model for others. On Sunday, the US and European Union agreed on a deal that will see the bloc face 15 per cent tariffs on most of its exports, with the EU pledging to invest US$600 billion in the US. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Asia: Most markets rise, euro boosted after EU strikes US trade deal
[HONG KONG] Most stock markets rose with the euro on Monday after the European Union and United States hammered out the 'biggest-ever' deal to avert a potentially damaging trade war. News of the deal, announced by Donald Trump and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, followed US agreements last week, including with Japan, and comes ahead of a new round of China-US talks. Investors were also gearing up for a busy week of data, central bank decisions and earnings from some of the world's biggest companies. Trump and von der Leyen announced at his golf resort in Scotland that a baseline tariff of 15 per cent would be levied on EU exports to the United States. 'We've reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody. This is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity,' Trump said, adding that the levies would apply across the board, including for Europe's crucial automobile sector, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Brussels also agreed to purchase 'US$750 billion worth of energy' from the United States, as well as make US$600 billion in additional investments. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'It's a good deal,' von der Leyen said. 'It will bring stability. It will bring predictability. That's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.' The news boosted the euro, which jumped to US$1.1779 from Friday's close of US$1.1749. And equities built on their recent rally, fanned by relief that countries were reaching deals with Washington. Hong Kong led winners, jumping around one per cent, with Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta also up, along with European and US futures. Tokyo fell for a second day, having soared about five per cent on Wednesday and Thursday in reaction to Japan's US deal. Singapore and Seoul were also lower. The broad gains came after another record day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Wall Street. 'The news flow from both the extension with China and the agreement with the EU is clearly market-friendly, and should put further upside potential into the euro... and should also put renewed upside into EU equities,' said Chris Weston at Pepperstone. Traders are gearing up for a packed week, with a delegation including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent holding fresh trade talks with a Chinese team headed by Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm. While both countries in April imposed tariffs on each other's products that reached triple-digit levels, US duties this year have temporarily been lowered to 30 per cent and China's countermeasures slashed to 10 per cent. The 90-day truce, instituted after talks in Geneva in May, is set to expire on Aug 12. Also on the agenda are earnings from tech titans Amazon, Apple, Meta Microsoft, as well as data on US economic growth and jobs. The Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting is expected to conclude with officials standing pat on interest rates, though investors are keen to see what their views are on the outlook for the rest of the year in light of Trump's tariffs and recent trade deals. The Bank of Japan is also forecast to hold off on any big moves on borrowing costs. AFP
