Posts by Yurie Miyazawa
S-Reits navigate a challenging 2024 with mixed returns
AFTER a challenging year for Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (S-Reits), they ended 2024 in the red, with the iEdge S-Reit Index generating a total return of minus 6.1 per cent, inclusive of distributions. The S-Reit sector is now trading at a price-to-book ratio of 0.84 times, which represents a discount of around 16 per…
Read MoreBlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF posts record outflow after banner year
INVESTORS yanked a net US$333 million from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) on Thursday (Jan 2), the most withdrawn from the record-breaking fund since its launch. The fund also suffered a third consecutive day of outflows, its longest losing streak, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As the largest spot Bitcoin fund with…
Read MoreSeven billionaire founders rode India’s IPO boom in 2024
A BLOCKBUSTER year for initial public offerings in India catapulted seven entrepreneurs into the US dollar billionaires league, many of them early movers in the country’s booming renewable energy sector. Chiranjeev Singh Saluja of Premier Energies is among those who successfully rode the wave. “My father was in the business of supplying hand pumps to…
Read MoreOil prices settle up on China optimism as investors return from holiday
OIL prices settled up by more than US$1 a barrel on Thursday as investors returned for the first trading day of 2025 with an optimistic eye on China’s economy and fuel demand after a pledge by President Xi Jinping to promote growth. Swelling petrol and distillate inventories in the US pressured prices and capped gains.…
Read MoreApple to pay US$95 million to settle Siri privacy lawsuit
APPLE agreed to pay US$95 million in cash to settle a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that its voice-activated Siri assistant violated users’ privacy. A preliminary settlement was filed on Dec 31 in the Oakland, California federal court, and requires approval by US district judge Jeffrey White. Mobile device owners complained that Apple routinely recorded…
Read More20 months’ pay in year-end bonus for staff at Taiwan shipping giant Evergreen
A TAIWANESE company that is known for giving employees big bonuses has done it yet again. Shipping giant Evergreen announced on Dec 31 that its employees would get an end-year bonus averaging 20 months of their salary, according to Taiwanese media outlets. Workers will also receive an additional three-month bonus, reported Taiwan News. In 2023,…
Read MoreSias calls for independent inquiry into SingPost’s dismissal of senior executives
AN INDEPENDENT professional inquiry should be commissioned to look into the circumstances that led to the dismissal of three Singapore Post (SingPost) senior executives. This is in light of the seriousness of the incident, as well as “the large number of questions still circulating”, said David Gerald, founder, president and chief executive of the Securities…
Read MoreSingapore shares rise on first trading day of 2025; STI up 0.4%
Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 284 to 246, with 812.8 million securities worth S$581.4 million changing hands SINGAPORE shares rose on Thursday (Jan 2) despite declines across the region on the first trading day of 2025. The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.4 per cent or 13.21 points, ending at 3,800.81. Across the…
Read MoreApple offers iPhone discounts in China as competition intensifies
APPLE is offering rare discounts of up to 500 yuan (S$93) on its latest iPhone models in China, as the US tech giant moves to defend its market share against rising competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei. The four-day promotion, running from Jan 4 to 7, applies to several iPhone models when purchased using…
Read MoreMusk’s X, Google yet to apply for Malaysia’s new social media license
ELON Musk’s X and Alphabet’s Google, which operates the video streaming platform YouTube, have not applied for a social media operating license under Malaysia’s new law which kicked in on Wednesday (Jan 1), according to the country’s Internet regulator. X said the number of its users in Malaysia did not meet the eight million threshold…
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