Philip Chua Business Blog

Archive for January, 2010

MANUFACTURING output increased by 14.4 per cent last month on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.

And excluding the volatile biomedical manufacturing cluster, output increased by 23.9 per cent.

The electronics cluster saw the biggest jump with a 57.3 per cent increase in output last month (y-o-y).
The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) attributed this to higher demand, coupled with the low b… more

AMID the general optimism over equities in Asia and the emerging markets, strategists at Barclays Wealth have sounded a note of caution over valuations in Asia. This runs counter to the consensus view that Asian growth is set to outstrip that of developed economies – a point that isn’t in dispute – and that market weakness is a buying opportunity.

Says Aaron Gurwitz, Barclays Wealth managing di… more

THE bottom fell out of the local stock market yesterday as a combination of fears took grip – worries over China’s bank lending restrictions which apparently could choke off a recovery, and an unstable Wall Street which has been rocked by fears of radical banking reforms.

Besides the twin fears, there was added pressure from a slight firming of the US dollar, raising ‘carry trade’ concerns where… more

LAYOFFS in the first nine months of last year indicate the annual total is set to be much lower than the record 29,000 reported during the Asian financial crisis, said Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday.
Official records show 18,180 workers were retrenched in the first three quarters of last year.
The annual total will be known by Friday when the Manpower Ministry is scheduled to release the… more

LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say yesterday threw the labour movement’s weight behind the Government’s goal to increase productivity.
Productivity gains are the best way to drive wages up, he told more than 500 unionists and employers at a conference on managing manpower challenges this year.
He spoke during a dialogue at the Singapore Tripartism Forum, when he was asked why a minimum wage was not put in … more

Two of the most cited economic indicators over the past year have been first time jobless claims and continuing jobless claims. Both have declined by a third since their respective peaks in the spring and summer of last year. In one five day period in March 2009 674,000 newly unemployed…