Daily Debrief: What Happened Today

City Harvest trial: 8 years for Kong Hee

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee has been sentenced to eight years' jail for his role in misusing millions of church funds, on Friday.

Looming pensions crisis in advanced world: Tharman

"A problem that is creeping on the United States, and much of the advanced world, is we have a looming pensions and healthcare financing crisis. In time to come, that will be the big crisis," Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, told participants at The Straits Times Global Outlook Forum on Friday.

BMI cuts loan growth forecast to 5% for S'pore banks

Research firm BMI has cut its forecast for loan growth of Singapore banks to 5 per cent from 10 per cent, citing economic headwinds ahead.

Singapore's domestic wholesale trade down 26% in Q3

Singapore's domestic wholesale trade contracted 26 per cent in the third quarter of 2015 compared with a year ago, the Department of Statistics Singapore said on Friday.

Noble's liquidity just enough to support rating: Fitch

Commodity trader Noble Group has enough liquidity to cover its short-term commitments in the next 12 months, credit agency Fitch Ratings said in a note on Friday. This, along with operational improvements, supports Noble's rating of BBB- with a stable outlook, Fitch said.

Bond ETF withdrawals surge as investors brace for higher rates

Investors in US exchange-traded funds have sold the most bonds in November in five months as they prepare for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

The STI Today

Singapore shares close lower

On Friday, the Straits Times Index weakened by 1.92 points at 2,917.91. Over the week, it dropped 8 points. All throughout volume was weak, hovering below S$1 billion per day. Turnover on Friday was 998.9 million units worth S$752.3 million and excluding warrants, the advance-decline score was 161-227.