Posts by Mark Darwin
Alibaba movie unit’s pivot, rebrand bring US$2 billion value gain
DAMAI Entertainment Holdings, formerly Alibaba Pictures Group, is shifting its focus from movies production to faster-growing entertainment segments targeting younger consumers – and investors are taking notice. Since its May 19 earnings report, which highlighted a pivot towards intellectual property (IP) licensing and live events, the company’s shares have roughly doubled, making it the top…
Read MoreMaybank downgrades Thai retail sector on weak sales, consumption
[SINGAPORE] Maybank Investment Bank has downgraded Thailand’s retail sector to “neutral” amid weak consumption and falling same store sales growth (SSSG). The bank’s analyst, Suttatip Peerasub, added in a note on Friday (Jun 13) that most of the kingdom’s retail operators are unlikely to report year-on-year earnings growth in Q2, with the exception of 7-Eleven…
Read MoreMiddle East tensions hit Asian and Asean markets, regional currencies slide
[SINGAPORE] A wave of geopolitical panic swept across Asian markets on Friday (Jun 13), after Israel launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure, stoking fears of a wider regional conflict. Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) fell about 0.5 per cent or 19.1 points by 1 pm, trading at 3,903.8. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index…
Read MoreOil jumps more than 7% as Israel strikes Iran, rattling investors
OIL prices jumped more than 7 per cent on Friday, hitting their highest in months after Israel said it struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies. Brent crude futures rose US$5.29, or 7.63 per cent, to US$74.65 a barrel by 0142 GMT after hitting an intraday high of US$75.32,…
Read MoreOil jumps more than 7% as Israel strikes Iran, rattling investors
OIL prices jumped more than 7 per cent on Friday, hitting their highest in months after Israel said it struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies. Brent crude futures rose US$5.29, or 7.63 per cent, to US$74.65 a barrel by 0142 GMT after hitting an intraday high of US$75.32,…
Read MoreOil soars more than 9% after Israel strikes Iran, rattling investors
OIL prices surged more than 9 per cent on Friday, hitting their highest in almost five months after Israel struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies. Brent crude futures jumped US$6.29, or 9.07 per cent, to US$75.65 a barrel by 0315 GMT after hitting an intraday…
Read MoreStocks to watch: SIA, Boustead, Ban Leong
[SINGAPORE] The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Friday (Jun 13). Singapore Airlines (SIA): An Air India plane bound for London crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday and more than 240 casualties have been reported, authorities said. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with…
Read MoreGoogle says it has resolved global service outage impacting multiple platforms
Published Fri, Jun 13, 2025 · 07:03 AM ALPHABET’S Google said on Thursday it had resolved a brief global service disruption on its platforms that affected multiple services such as music streamer Spotify and instant messaging provider Discord. “The issue with Google Chat, Google Meet, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Cloud Search, Google Tasks,…
Read MoreUS stocks close higher as bond yields retreat
Published Fri, Jun 13, 2025 · 06:11 AM [NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished higher on Thursday following a choppy session as markets weighed worries about US trade tariffs with benign inflation data and a positive Treasury bond auction. Data showed that US wholesale prices rose 0.1 per cent last month, a modest uptick that shows no…
Read MoreBoustead Singapore reviews assets for potential sale to Reit for listing
No certainty that any transaction will materialise as a result of this process, says the engineering and technology group [SINGAPORE] Boustead Singapore is conducting strategic reviews for the sale of its stake in some of its logistics and industrial real estate assets to a real estate investment trust, to be listed on the Mainboard of…
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