SG Morning Highlights | Easing Mortgage Rates and Lower Household Debt May Not Fuel Home-Buying: Analysts

Advancers / Decliners is 74 to 88, with 132.20 million securities worth S$135.35 million changing hands.

Singapore fixed home-loan rates have recently eased, ahead of a likely pause in the US Federal Reserve's interest rate-hike cycle. But the rate outlook remains uncertain, and the slightly lighter debt burden may not bring buyers back to the housing market immediately, analysts said.

As at Wednesday (Jun 7), DBS' fixed-rate loans were at 3.75 per cent per annum, with lock-in periods of two to five years. In January, the bank had offered a 4.25 per cent rate.

Companies are adopting electric vehicles (EV) in greater numbers, spurred by lower running costs and government subsidies.

The number of electric goods vehicles on Singapore's roads has risen 49.8 per cent this year to 2,837 as at Apr 30, 2023, statistics from the Land Transport Authority showed.

The number of electric buses rose 34.4 per cent to 203 over the same period.

With the global plant-based movement on the rise, more traditional food manufacturers in Singapore are developing plant-based product lines to tap new revenue streams and enter overseas markets.

"This is in line with consumers becoming more conscious of nutrition and health, as well as more seeing plant-based diets as sustainable and less damaging to the environment," said Sharon Tay, director of food manufacturing and agritech at Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), in an interview with The Business Times (BT).

According to a bourse filing on June 7, MUST's tenant, The Children's Place, has exercised its early termination rights for the leases expiring May 31, 2029 and will vacate its 197,949 sq ft of space on May 31, 2024.

The tenant contributes 3.3% of MUST's overall gross rental income.

In a bourse filing, the group said that its subsidiary Everbright Water (Jiangyin) has entered into a concession agreement with the Jiangyin Municipal Integrated Management Bureau of Jiangsu province for the fourth phase of the Jiangyin Chengxi wastewater treatment project.

Everbright Water (Jiangyin) will be responsible for the investment, financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance, and transfer of the project. It will be carried out on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, with an investment of approximately 253 million yuan (S$47.9 million).