SG Morning Highlights | GIC Acquires Two More Logistics Facilities in Japan

Advancers / Decliners is 76 to 69, with 39.82 million securities worth S$56.08 million changing hands.

GIC has bought two logistic facilities developed by Japanese real estate developer Daiwa House Industry for an undisclosed amount. The assets in Takatsuki city of Greater Osaka and Tosu city of Greater Fukuoka were completed in 2023 and 2021, said the Singapore sovereign wealth fund on Monday (Dec 4). “Both properties have modern building specifications that cater to a wide range of tenants,” GIC noted, adding that the assets are located in “regional logistics hubs with convenient transportation access via major roads and expressways”.

Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Monday (Dec 4) launched new listing requirements for actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to meet evolving market needs. An active ETF is one in which the investment manager makes decisions on the portfolio of the ETF without being subject to set rules of an index, according to the newly released practice note by SGX RegCo. “The measures address transparency for investors, with requirements for fund managers to publish indicative net asset value throughout the trading day, disclose net asset value daily, and publish fund performance and portfolio holdings on a monthly basis,” said the Singapore Exchange.

Singapore's carbon tax needs to go even higher to accelerate climate action to address global warming, Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said on Monday (Dec 4). While the city-state has done its part in implementing a carbon tax, Menon said it is “not quite enough”. Singapore's carbon tax is currently set at S$5 per tonne of emissions, but will increase to S$25 per tonne from 2024 and to S$45 per tonne between 2026 and 2027. The official guidance is for the tax to land between S$50 and S$80 per tonne by 2030.

Singapore hotels' performance in October fell from September highs, with average room rate (ARR) and other key measures posting sequential declines for the month, latest data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed on Monday (Dec 4). The latest figures came amid a continued downward trend in tourism arrivals, with 1.13 million visitors to Singapore in October. ARR slipped 14.6 per cent to S$278.08, from Singapore's S$325.46. It was down 2.6 per cent from the year-ago period, marking the first such on-year decline since March 2021.