Oil falls 3% as equity markets drop, inventories climb. Oil prices slumped to more than two-week lows on Thursday as global stock markets fell, with investor sentiment made more bearish by a bigger-than-expected build in US crude inventories. Brent crude futures fell US$2.83 to settle at US$80.26 a barrel, a 3.41 per cent loss, after hitting a low of US$79.80, its weakest since Sept 24. The global benchmark has retreated after hitting a four-year high of US$86.74 on Oct 3. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell US$2.2 to settle at US$70.97 a barrel, a 3.01 per cent loss. WTI hit its lowest since Sept 21.

US curbs China nuclear exports as Trump warns Americans not 'stupid'. The United States said Thursday that it will increasingly restrict civilian nuclear exports to China as President Donald Trump vowed a hard line on trade, bluntly warning not to think Americans are "stupid." The US Energy Department said it would make it more difficult to ship nuclear technology to China, one of the few growing markets for new plants as the Asian economy tries to meet rising electricity demand through low-carbon sources.

Singapore Q3 GDP growth slows less than expected to 2.6% as manufacturing moderates. Singapore's economic growth grew at a slower pace of 2.6 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the 4.1 per cent expansion seen in the previous quarter. But even as the economy appears to lose steam, the latest print was still a notch higher than economist expectations of 2.4 per cent growth. And on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the economy expanded by 4.7 per cent, faster than the 1.2 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

MAS tightens Singdollar policy further in October policy decision. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Friday that it is slightly increasing the slope of the Singdollar nominal effective exchange rate policy band, consistent with a "modest and gradual appreciation path ... that will ensure medium-term price stability", in the second consecutive tightening at its half-yearly monetary policy review. The width of the policy band and the level at which it is centred will be unchanged.

Yangzijiang forms US$99.9 million joint venture with Japanese peers to build commercial vessels in China. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) has set up a joint venture shipbuilder in China, with Japan's Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding and Mitsui & Co as partners. Yangzijiang will own 51 per cent of the joint venture, which will produce commercial vessels from April 2019 out of its Taicang yard in Jiangsu, China. According to the company, the registered share capital of the joint venture could be as much as US$99.9 million, while the total capital to be employed could go up to US$299 million.

Delong CEO pulls out of privatisation bid on requirement to raise offer price to S$7.42 a share. The voluntary conditional cash offer of S$7 a share made on Sept 27 was withdrawn on Thursday in an announcement from PrimePartners Corporate Finance, acting for bid vehicle Best Grace Holdings. But hiking the offer price to S$7.42 a share will "precipitate very substantial contingent liabilities that materially exceed the financial resources arranged for the offer", said the announcement.

Sasseur Reit loses PE firm L Catterton Asia as substantial unitholder. Private equity firm L Catterton Asia is no longer a substantial unitholder of Sasseur real estate investment trust (Reit), after it sold part of its stake in the Reit's sponsor, Sasseur Cayman Holding. Its deemed stake was cut from 58.86 per cent to 1.36 per cent, a regulatory filing late on Thursday showed.

Source: CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, Business Times, Phillip Securities Research