SG Morning Highlights: Singtel readies US$300m sale of cyber security arm Trustwave, sources say

Advancers / Decliners is 62 to 90, with 107.00 million securities worth S$96.68 million changing hands.

Special visas or work passes for top foreign talent, and government support for multinationals looking to bring them in, are some possible forms which Singapore's upcoming talent-attraction initiatives could take, industry watchers said.

For instance, Singapore could roll out visas specific to a particular sector, demographic or even lifestyle – such as the hotly-discussed "digital nomad visa", watchers told The Business Times.

Indonesia is expected to continue bucking the trend of monetary policy tightening although signs that the government may boost fuel prices could convince the central bank to signal a readiness to act to tame inflation.

Bank Indonesia will keep its 7-day reverse repurchase rate at 3.5 per cent on Tuesday (Aug 23), according to 24 of 31 economists in a Bloomberg survey as of Monday. The rest expect an increase of 25 basis points.

Bank Indonesia stands out as a rate holdout in the region amid 7-year high inflation, with Governor Perry Warjiyo reiterating last week that he sees no need to increase just yet. His remarks came even after President Joko Widodo warned that the government won’t be able to sustain heavy subsidies.

This came as the group recorded a negative fair value adjustment of S$3.1 million from its shares in Nasdaq-listed Seelos Therapeutics, which the group received during H1 to partially satisfy a US$9 million upfront fee under its Wafermine out-licensing agreement.

The depreciation of the Australian dollar against the Singapore dollar further dragged on the group's bottom line, contributing to a wider S$710,000 in currency exchange net losses compared to the previous year's S$359,000 loss.

The announcement was in response to queries raised by the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX-ST) about UHReit's "significant liabilities of S$309.2 million and cash and bank balance of only S$12.6 million".

In particular, SGX-ST asked if the group's current assets are adequate to meet its short-term liabilities of S$103.3 million and how it intends to fulfil its significant payment obligations in the next 12 months.

The Singapore operator has been speaking with financial advisers as it prepares for a potential divestment of the Chicago-based unit, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Trustwave could attract interest from other firms in the industry and investment funds, according to the people.

Considerations are preliminary and Singtel could still decide to retain the asset, they said. A representative for Singtel declined to comment.