World

SINGAPORE: A delivery driver was sentenced on Monday (Aug 1) to four months' jail after knocking down a 78-year-old woman in the central business district. The victim died of head injury a day after the accident. Muhammad Said Shahidir Dres, 35, was also banned from driving for eight years after pleading guilty to one count of careless driving. The court heard that on Apr 3, 2020, Said was driving his van along Cross Street while making a delivery at about 3.05pm. He was driving on the extreme right lane as he intended to make a right turn at the junction of Robinson Road towards Collyer Quay. Around the same time, the victim started walking across the signalised pedestrian crossing of Robinson Road between CapitaGreen and Hong Leong Building. She had crossed three of the four lanes o...

SHANGHAI: China cut its benchmark lending rate and lowered the mortgage reference by a bigger margin on Monday (Aug 22), adding to last week's easing measures, as Beijing boosts efforts to revive an economy hobbled by a property crisis and a resurgence of COVID cases. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is walking a tight rope in its efforts to revive growth. Offering too much stimulus could add to inflation pressures and risk capital flight as the Federal Reserve and other economies raise interest rates aggressively. However, weak credit demand is forcing the PBOC's hand as it tries to keep China's economy on an even keel. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered by 5 basis points to 3.65 per cent at the central bank's monthly fixing on Monday, while the five-year LPR was slashed b...

NEW YORK : World stocks tumbled for a third consecutive session on Tuesday on concerns about likely U.S. and European interest rate hikes, after data showed resilient economic growth and inflation in both regions despite central banks' policy tightening so far. Two-year U.S. Treasuries scaled a new high not seen since 2007 after data showed U.S. job openings increased in July. This suggested that demand for labor was not slowing, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to stick to its aggressive monetary policy tightening path. To discourage speculation that the Fed might cut rates next year to support economic growth, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Tuesday the central bank likely needed to get its policy rate above 3.5 per cent, and was unlikely to cut...

The core inflation rate in Singapore reached a high of 4.4 per cent in June, affecting the prices of everything from transport to utilities and consumer goods and services. But what does this mean for your investment portfolio? Inflation doesn’t just reduce your purchasing power – it can also eat into your investment gains, necessitating a rebalancing of your portfolio to offset the effects. In a recent in-app survey conducted by moomoo SG, 66 per cent of Singaporeans interviewed were concerned about the strong US dollar and high inflation. To fight inflation, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) began its rate-hike cycle this year, raising interest rates by a total of 2.25 per cent or 225 basis points (bps) so far in 2022. Observers expect the Fed to raise rates by another 2 per cent or 200 bp...

POTENTIAL RAMIFICATIONS FOR YOUNGER WORKERS, EMPLOYERS AND SINGAPORE If the “choosiness” that embodies the current employees’ market - at least from the employer’s perspective - persists, it could inadvertently dampen the competitiveness of the local workforce, some employers said. Mr Lim, the business owner, said that it is still not clear whether the current attitudes among young workers will “be a new trendsetter for employment in Singapore”. He noted that amid the current labour shortage, it will be no surprise for firms unable to hire local employees to turn to foreign talent - be it bringing them in from other countries or having them work remotely overseas. “For the employees … once they see that jobs are now being taken up by other labour sources like foreign workers or more ma...

In this article 7974.T-JP 6758.T-JP MSFT A gamer plays on Sony's Playstation 5 console at his home in Seoul. Yelim Lee | AFP via Getty Images The giants of the video game world saw their sales slide in the second quarter, as initial tailwinds from the Covid pandemic faded. In the three months ended June, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo each posted disappointing results in their respective gaming businesses. The numbers reflect a broader contraction in consumer spending on video games. Americans spent $12.4 billion on games in the second quarter, according to market research firm NPD, down 13% year-on-year. Several factors are to blame, not least the relaxing of pandemic restrictions, with people eschewing home entertainment options in favor of outdoor activities. Ongoing shortages of semi...

An old crypto scheme has a new name — and it's costing investors millions. So-called "pig butchering" is when a scammer builds up trust with their victims before eventually pressuring them to deposit more and more of their crypto assets into bogus digital wallets or websites controlled by the scammer. The name refers to how scammers "feed their victims with promises of romance and riches before cutting them off and taking all their money," according to an FBI report. And you may have already encountered the latest iteration of this scheme. "'Pig butchering' scammers usually send a message via Whatsapp, text or another app like Tinder, as if it was intended for someone else, often with an attractive person's profile photo," says Chen Arad, chief operating officer of Solidus Labs, a company ...

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day: 1. Stocks look to shake off back-to-back losses NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 25: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 25, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images Stock futures were in the green Wednesday, following two straight negative days to begin August trading. In Tuesday's down session, investors grappled with increased tensions between Washington and Beijing, as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, and comments on inflation and future rate hikes from a number of Federal Reserve officials. The S&P 500 enters Wednesday down nearly 1% for the week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has declined 0.34%. The Dow Jones Industrial Ave...

Eight months into 2022, the Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit, remains a trend for professionals seeking new work opportunities or leaving the workforce altogether. Despite recession concerns, a whopping 4.2 million people quit their jobs last month, and the quitting isn't expected to stop any time soon. Whether you're changing career paths, pursuing entrepreneurship, or even trying out freelancing, there are some things you can do to help you leverage your skills after quitting your job. According to Joyce Guan West, career coach and founder of career services business, Coaching with Empathy, preparing thoroughly before you resign can hugely impact your success. "Offboarding is just as important to give time, attention, care and intentionality to as starting a new role," West ...

TOKYO: Asia's factories struggled for momentum in July as China's strict COVID-19 restrictions and flagging global demand slowed production, although early signs red-hot inflation may be peaking provided some optimism for firms squeezed by prices. A series of purchasing managers' indexes (PMI) for July released on Monday (Aug 1) showed new orders falling in the region's manufacturing powerhouses, particularly tech giants in northeast Asia. South Korea's factory activity fell for the first time in almost two years while Japan saw its slowest growth in activity in 10 months amid persistent supply chain disruptions. Activity growth in China also slowed, the private sector Caixin PMI showed on Monday, despite some easing of the strict domestic COVID-19 curbs that slammed the world's second-...