Daily Debrief: What Happened Today

Singapore's full-year growth slows to 3.2% as fourth quarter misses mark

Singapore's fourth-quarter economic growth missed estimates in the last stretch of 2018, shaving a fraction off its performance for the full year. Growth came in at 3.2 per cent in 2018, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Friday - a sliver under the 3.3 per cent floated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the start of the year.

New private home sales in January down 28.1% from December; 17.8% lower on year: URA

Developers in Singapore sold 433 private homes last month, down 28.1 per cent from the 602 units they moved in December 2018, and also 17.8 per cent lower than the 527 units they moved in January 2018. Including ECs, developers found buyers for 434 units last month, again lower than the 605 units in December 2018, and the 627 units they moved in January 2018.

Eight in 10 SMEs expecting more business incentives in Budget: DBS poll

This is because manpower issues (26.5 per cent), high operational costs (21.5 per cent) and challenges in growing business revenue (21 per cent) continue to plague SMEs in a difficult economic environment. Manpower challenges include hiring the right people (43 per cent) and retaining employees (27 per cent).

Cromwell E-Reit buys France logistics property for 6.9m euros, 3 Poland properties for 69.38m euros

Cromwell European Reit (E-Reit) has acquired a logistics property located in France for 6.9 million euros (S$10.58 million) and three office assets in Poland for 69.38 million euros. The acquisitions are part of the Reit's (real estate investment trust) larger acquisition of 23 properties across five countries in Europe for 384.4 million euros, announced last October.

Corporate earnings

The STI today

Singapore stocks end lower on Friday

Singapore stocks closed lower on Friday, with the Straits Times Index down 0.41 per cent or 13.42 points to 3,239.74.