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It shrank by 3.1% no thanks to declines in electronics and precision engineering.

But the Lion City is expected to benefit from initiatives aiming to improve logistics and harmonise regulations. Singapore held its second position after the Netherlands for trade connectivity on the back of its policies that leverage on global connectedness, according to DHL’s latest Global Connectedness Index (GCI). The GCI report, which assessed the globalisation developments across 169 countries and territories since the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the 2016 presidential election in the United States, found that Singapore was also one of the five countries where international flows exceeded expectations. The other countries included Cambodia, Malaysia, Mozambique and Vietnam. 

The strong performance was attributed to its 10 new stores.

And dining platform Chope forged partnership with China’s food delivery giant Meituan-Dianping.

Expect muted gains today.

DBS outperformed OCBC and UOB with its NIM widening 9 basis points due to lower funding costs. This chart from Moody’s Investor Services showed that the NIMs for Singapore’s three big banks comprising of DBS, OCBC and UOB rose to an average 1.8% in 2018 from 1.75% in 2017. DBS outperformed the other two with its NIM widening 9 basis points because of lower funding costs, compared with 5 basis points for OCBC, and 1 basis point decline for UOB. NIMs are set to stagnate in 2019 because interest rates will not rise as steeply as they did in 2018, given worsening economic prospects, Moody’s said. “Interest rates in Singapore typically move in tandem with US interest rates, and the pace of further rate increases in the US will slow in 2019, with the Fed turning more cautions with monetary policy tightening and balance sheet reductions,” they explained, adding that stiff competition amongst banks for new mortgage financing and refinancing will deter banks from raising loan rates, which in turn will constrain NIM improvements. “Further, low-cost current account savings account (CASA) deposits at the three banks are decreasing as depositors gravitate to higher yielding fixed deposits to take advantage of rising rates,” Moody’s said. “This shift will lead to higher funding costs and weigh on NIMs.” 

It blamed the African swine fever outbreak in China and weaker commodity prices.

Nine in 10 mothers in Singapore engaged in either partial or full breastfeeding in 2018.

It was hit by its customers’ product transitions and M&A activities.

It will cover driver-partners for medical leave of up to 21 days and hospitalisation leave of up to 84 days.

It will provide maintenance services for the customer’s 160 aircrafts starting 2020.

The additional China tariff announcement delay may boost local sentiment.

Resale prices may slide further by 1-2%, whilst rents may decline by 1-3% in 2019.

And HDB revealed that more than half of 2-room flexi flats are purchased by seniors.

Slower growth in electricity and gas prices outweighed higher services inflation.

The city saw US$650m in acquisitions across four deals in 2018.