SG Morning Highlights | New contract lifts Lian Beng's Singapore construction order book to S$2.1b

Advancers / Decliners is 28 to 100, with 169.95 million securities worth S$68.69 million changing hands.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) will likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to recent strong data and is prepared to move in larger steps if the "totality" of incoming information suggests tougher measures are needed to control inflation, Fed chair Jerome Powell told US lawmakers on Tuesday (Mar 7).

"The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated," the US central bank chief said in opening remarks at a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee.

While some of that unexpected economic strength may have been due to warm weather and other seasonal effects, Powell said the Fed was cognisant it may also be a sign it needs to do more to temper inflation, perhaps even returning to larger rate increases than the quarter-percentage-point steps officials had been planning to stick with.

Lee Hsien Yang said on Tuesday (Mar 7) that he may never return to Singapore amid an ongoing police investigation into him and his wife, Lee Suet Fern.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Lee, the younger son of first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and the brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, also said his sister, Lee Wei Ling, is now extremely unwell.

"It pains me beyond words that I am unlikely ever to be able to see my sister face to face again," he wrote.

The European Union's (EU) new deforestation rules are likely to have a negative impact on Malaysia's palm oil exports to the bloc, said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof at a conference on Tuesday (Mar 7).

According to the latest figures, Malaysia – the world’s second-largest producer of the commodity – exported about 1.5 million tonnes of palm oil worth RM8 billion (S$2.4 billion) to the EU bloc in 2022.

This export amount was 10.5 per cent lower than the previous year, and Fadillah – who is also Plantation and Commodities Minister – expects exports to the EU to fall even further once the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) is implemented.

Through these investments, they seek to grow the logistics supply chain value in South-east Asia, and plan to also lease the assets for rental income, the logistics management service provider said in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Mar 7).

Under the agreement, Cosco Shipping will subscribe for 49 per cent of the issued and paid-up share capital of the JV company, while Supply Fortune will subscribe for the remaining 51 per cent.

This order book will provide a "sustainable flow of activity" through FY2027, the mainboard-listed company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday (Mar 7).

Lian Beng did not give further details on the new project, nor did it provide the value of the project.