Posts by Mark Darwin
China keeps benchmark lending rates unchanged as expected in June
Published Fri, Jun 20, 2025 · 09:35 AM [SHANGHAI] China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged as expected on Friday, after Beijing rolled out sweeping monetary easing measures a month earlier to support the economy. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3 per cent, while the five-year LPR was unchanged at 3.50 per…
Read MoreReplace Fear with Focus: How Meditation Changed My Leadership
Fear is a natural human emotion, but I’ve learned not to let it control my life. While we can’t stop ourselves from feeling scared, we can choose how we respond to that fear. This realization has been transformative for my leadership journey and personal growth. When fear arises—and it will—acknowledging and recognizing it allows you…
Read MoreMOF says SRS withdrawal process ‘can be improved’; to work with banks
[SINGAPORE] The government will work with Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) bank operators to improve the process of withdrawing funds from their account. The response comes shortly after The Straits Times published a forum letter on Monday (Jun 16) by an account holder, Francis Yeoh, who described the current process as inconvenient, as it requires an…
Read MoreFinance ministry says SRS withdrawal process ‘can be improved’, will work with banks on this
[SINGAPORE] The government will work with Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) bank operators to smoothen account holders’ process of withdrawing funds from their account. The response comes shortly after The Straits Times published a forum letter on Monday (Jun 16) by account holder Francis Yeoh, who described the current process as inconvenient, as it requires an…
Read MoreOil prices up nearly 3% as Israel-Iran conflict escalates, US response remains uncertain
[CALGARY] Oil prices jumped almost 3 per cent on Thursday as a week-old air war between Israel and Iran escalated and uncertainty about potential US involvement kept investors on edge. Brent crude futures settled up US$2.15, or 2.8 per cent, to US$78.85 a barrel, its highest close since Jan 22. US West Texas Intermediate crude for July…
Read MoreTrump says he signed executive order extending deadline for TikTok closing
Published Thu, Jun 19, 2025 · 11:54 PM [WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (Jun 19) that he has signed an executive order extending the June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short-video app TikTok for 90 days. “I’ve just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for…
Read MoreKorea’s Cuckoo set for Malaysia debut after scaling down IPO
(Bloomberg) – A subsidiary of South Korean home-appliance maker Cuckoo Holdings is set to go public in Malaysia after a scaled-down offering that’s expected to raise RM395 million (S$119.4 million). Cuckoo International (Mal) will begin trading on June 24, two months after postponing its initial public offering due to market volatility. The final amount raised…
Read MoreJapan to cut super-long bond sales by 10% to calm markets
[TOKYO] Japan’s government plans to cut sales of super-long bonds by about 10 per cent from its original plan in a rare revision to its bond programme for the current fiscal year, trimming overall bond issuance as a result, a draft document seen by Reuters showed. The move aims to soothe market oversupply concerns, after…
Read MoreFlights to Indonesia’s Bali resume after disruption by volcano eruption
[JAKARTA] All flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali resumed on Thursday (Jun 19) after being cancelled or delayed due to eruptions of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km high. Eighty-seven flights to and from Bali, consisting…
Read MoreVietnamese dong drops to record low as Asian currencies weaken
Published Thu, Jun 19, 2025 · 01:38 PM [MANILA] The Vietnamese dong fell, dropping below a record low it touched in April, as Asian currencies declined following a report that the US is preparing for a possible strike on Iran. The dong fell 0.1 per cent to 26,130 per US dollar on Thursday (Jun 19),…
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