Daily Briefing: Company margins under further strain; Property investment sales plunge 74%

And times of uncertainty demand investments that protect capital.

Singapore’s central bank said company margins may come under pressure because of a weakening global economy, putting the labor market under further strain. Wage growth in the city state may slow to 2.5 percent to 3 percent this year, below the 3.5 percent seen last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its bi-annual Macroeconomic Review published on Wednesday. Read more here.

Real estate investment sales in Singapore, which corresponds to the sale of land, buildings and multiple units valued above $5 million, plunged by around 74 percent to $1.75 billion in Q1 2016, from $6.7 billion in Q4 last year, according to a DTZ report. The sharp decline is partially attributed to uncertainty in the global economy, arising from volatile oil prices, mixed signals on China’s economic growth, and the UK’s potential exit from the European Union. Find out more here.

As the financial centre of Asia, and as a small and open economy, Singapore is affected by the slowdown of Asia’s economies, led by the volatility in the Chinese market and current global uncertainty. As a result, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has eased its monetary policy for the third time in 15 months, setting the Singapore dollar’s nominal effective exchange rate at zero percent, in turn stabilising the expected appreciation of the Singapore dollar. Read more here.