Daily Debrief: What Happened Today

Surbana Jurong enhances presence in Africa, buys stakes in two firms

Surbana Jurong Private Limited on Wednesday announced two stake acquisitions in a bid to entrench its presence in Africa and ramp up its building design capabilities respectively.

Uber rival GrabTaxi plans carpooling service in Singapore

Ride-hailing app GrabTaxi, which competes with Uber Technologies Inc in South-east Asia, is planning to launch a carpooling service in Singapore, one of the most expensive cities in the world to own a car. "GrabHitch hits the sweet spot for people who want a door-to-door transport service, but prefer not to pay a premium above public train or bus fares," Tan Hooi Ling, co-founder of GrabTaxi, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Condo resale prices drop 0.6% in October on higher volume

Non-landed private residential resale prices fell 0.6 per cent in October 2015 compared with September, while transactions rose. Resale volume was up 9.8 per cent.

Freehold mixed-use redevelopment site at Upper East Coast Road up for sale

A freehold mixed-use redevelopment site at the junction of Upper East Coast Road and Hacienda Grove has been put up for sale by tender. The seller is expecting offers of above S$34.2 million.

Corporate Earnings

Alibaba says Singles' Day sales surpass last year's US$9.3b total

The company, which six years ago turned Nov 11 into China's equivalent of US shopping event Cyber Monday, could see this year's sales rise to as much as US$13.8 billion, a growth of almost 50 per cent from last year's total, according to research firm IDC.

The STI Today

Singapore shares close lower on Wednesday

Local stocks ended 0.54 per cent lower on Wednesday, with the benchmark Straits Times Index retreating 16.13 points to 2,981.59 after weak economic data from China.