Daily Briefing: Singapore’s top financial hub status under threat; Oil rigs’ profits plunge as bills pile up

And Singapore’s inflation levels plummet.

Singapore’s ambition to become Asia’s top financial hub is taking a battering. The biggest hit has been to its public markets: This year alone, nearly $5.5 billion in market capitalization is expected to vanish from Singapore’s stock exchange when flagship companies like global container shipper Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. and rail operator SMRT Ltd. delist. Read more here.

Bank obligations and supplier bills are piling up, and customers aren't paying their contracts. That's bad news when the sector faces $500 million of bonds that mature next year and another $725 million in 2018. Read more here.

The inflation rate in Singapore fell by 0.7% on an annual basis in June after a 1.6% drop in May and estimated forecasts of a contraction of 1.1%. While prices of food products increased at a sluggish pace, prices of utilities, transport, and housing contracted sharply. Read more here.