Daily Briefing: Wage-cost woes spark recession warnings in Singapore; Gold, gems in Singapore vault up 90%

And Baltic Exchange board backs SGX's takeover offer.

Negative interest rates, stagnating economies and political uncertainty are causing wealthy investors to search for a safe haven to store their valuables. Malca-Amit in Singapore then saw its stash of gold, silver and gems jump almost 90% in the past year, causing its facilities in the city-state to be 70% full. Managing director Ariel Kohelet revealed that revenue has grown at least 45% in 2016 from a year earlier. Read more here.

More businesses in Singapore are suffering from weak profit margins caused by higher wages, and analysts say these pressures are flashing warnings of a recession. Singapore's wage costs, which roughly stand at 43% of GDP, are now at levels which historically had preceded recessions in 1985, 1997 and 2001. Read more here.

Singapore Exchanges gets a nod of approval from the Baltic Exchange board for its takeover bid. The terms of the offer will entitle Baltic shareholders to 160.41 pounds per share plus 19.30 pounds per share as a final dividend. Read more here.