New outlets offering niche, top-end products liven up the ‘quieter’ part of Singapore’s premier shopping area WHILE the talk in town a week ago was about the government’s $40 million makeover of Orchard Road, the part of Orchard Road that stretches from Wheelock Place to Tanglin Mall has been going through some positive changes of […]
Archive | November 14, 2007
Morgan Stanley hit by US$3.7b sub-prime bill
(NEW YORK) Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest US securities firm, joined Merrill Lynch & Co and Citigroup Inc in booking losses on sub-prime mortgage-related assets and said that the outlook for credit markets is bleaker than in September. The company said that it lost US$3.7 billion in the two months through Oct 31 after prices for […]
More rate cuts may come, say Fed officials
Cuts likely if housing slump spreads to other areas and growth is weaker than expected (MILWAUKEE) Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday said more interest rate cuts could be needed if economic growth proves weaker than expected, just a week after hinting that rates would probably stay steady for now. Uncertainty about how events will play […]
Fed panel sees US growth slowing, rising inflation risks
It, however, expects economy to improve later next year, Fed chief tells Congress (WASHINGTON) Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the US economy is likely to ‘slow noticeably’ this quarter while high commodity prices and a weaker dollar may stoke inflation ‘for a time’. Mr Bernanke said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets […]
Merrill’s mortgage woes piling up
Firm’s exposure US$6.3b more than previously disclosed (NEW YORK) Merrill Lynch & Co Inc said on Wednesday its total exposure to risky collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) and sub-prime mortgages is US$27.2 billion, or about US$6.3 billion more than what the company disclosed late last month. Merrill’s larger figure is mostly because of a deeper level […]
Stocks tumble across Asia after Wall St drop
Nikkei index sheds 2%, Hang Seng 3.2% and Shanghai Composite 4.9% (TOKYO) Asian markets fell yesterday after Wall Street posted its second big drop in a week as investors worried about the extent of fallout from the global credit crisis. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank 2 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index in […]
SUB-PRIME SHOCK – AIG takes US$2b hit in sub-prime losses
Insurer expected to write down additional US$550m next quarter (NEW YORK) The American International Group (AIG), the world’s largest insurance company, said on Wednesday that it wrote down nearly US$2 billion in investments related to mortgages in the third quarter and expected to write down an additional US$550 million in the next quarter. The reduction […]
Will oil send the US economy sliding again?
High price alone not fatal, but credit crisis, housing worry add to recession risk NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT NOT long ago, the general consensus would have been that US$100 oil would cause the US economy to go into a recession, and with good reason – the high price of oil crippled the American economy in the […]
Turbulent time for Asian markets next year: S&P
ASIAN stock markets face a difficult 2008 and could slide sharply, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said yesterday, as regional share prices fell heavily. ‘Next year will be a more difficult one for stock-market returns and we would not rule out the risk of a sharp correction,’ Asia-Pacific equity research head Lorraine Tan said […]
NEWS ANALYSIS – Banks’ showing may be as good as it gets amid credit turmoil
IS THIS as bad as it gets? This was the question on many investors’ minds as they scrutinised the impact of the global credit market turmoil on the third-quarter results of the three Singapore banks. They have reason to be jittery, given the financial haemorrhage suffered by Wall Street banks. Merrill Lynch has made write-downs […]
China tightens foreign investment rules
It welcomes funding to help clean up the environment but puts limits on some sectors SHANGHAI – CHINA has announced new rules to limit foreign investment in key industries, as it seeks to cool its overheated economy and clean up its damaged environment, state press reported yesterday. In a wide-ranging directive published late on Wednesday, […]
Regional bourses in disarray as credit woes dog Wall St again
China takes the worst battering as it falls 4.9%; investors fear repeat of market carnage in August TOKYO – ASIAN markets tumbled yesterday after Wall Street suffered its second-largest drop in a week amid worries about the extent of the fallout from the global credit crisis. China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.9 per cent […]
Morgan Stanley reports $5.3b in sub-prime losses
Asset write-downs may wipe out securities firm’s fourth-quarter gain NEW YORK – MORGAN Stanley joined Merrill Lynch and Citigroup in booking losses on sub-prime mortgage-related assets, and said the outlook for credit markets is bleaker now than it was in September. The firm said it lost US$3.7 billion (S$5.3 billion) in the two months ended […]
