SG Morning Highlights | While 'cautiously optimistic' about growth, Singapore must support those hit by headwinds: PM Lee

Advancers / Decliners is 46 to 59, with 62.51 million securities worth S$68.78 million changing hands.

The Federal Reserve moved its management of the post-pandemic economic recovery into a new phase on Wednesday (May 3) with what may be the last in a historic series of interest rate hikes and heightened attention to credit and other economic risks.

The US central bank raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 5.00-5.25 per cent range, as expected by financial markets, but in doing so dropped from its policy statement language saying that it "anticipates" further rate increases would be needed.

The change doesn't foreclose the central bank's policy-setting committee from hiking rates again when it meets in June, but Fed chair Jerome Powell said it was now an open question whether further increases will be warranted in an economy still facing high inflation, but also showing signs of a slowdown and with risks of a tough credit crackdown by banks on the horizon.

About 4.63 million passengers passed through Changi Airport in March 2023, which is about 82 per cent of its pre-Covid traffic in March 2019, said Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Wednesday (May 3).

This marks the first time passenger traffic at one of the world’s busiest airports crossed 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Aircraft movements, which include landings and takeoffs, totalled 26,000, which is about 81 per cent of March 2019 levels.

Singapore can be "cautiously optimistic" about its economic prospects this year, with slowing growth but no outright contraction, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. But facing external risks and disruptive technological change, the country must adapt "while doing all we can to buffer those adversely affected".

In his May Day Message on Sunday (Apr 30), the prime minister noted Singapore's continued post-Covid economic recovery, particularly in earlier hard-hit sectors such as tourism and hospitality.

"Inflation is still high, but there is some hope it will moderate in the second half," he said. "Meanwhile, unemployment rates have stayed low, and retrenchment numbers remain manageable."

Singapore cannot yet commit to a single set of pathways to reach its net-zero emission targets because there is too much uncertainty about which solutions will work best, said the country's first chief sustainability officer (CSO).

"There are no pathways, but pathfinders, because the entire trajectory, all the way down to the solution level, is still unclear," says Lim Tuang Liang, 51, giving his first media interview since his Jan 1 appointment.

Lim, who was formerly chief science and technology officer at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), is the Singapore government's point man in its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 for the country, and by around 2045 for the public sector. It is no small task.

OSC Capital does not intend to revise its final offer, it said on Wednesday (May 3). The holding company is 51 per cent owned by Ong Pang Aik, who is also the chairperson of Lian Beng.

This came after OSC Capital made a privatisation offer of S$0.62 per share in April, which was less than half the group's net asset value of S$1.54 per share as at the end of November last year.