Federal Reserve leaves key US rate unchanged amid mixed economic signals. The US Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged amid mixed signals about the direction of the US economy. While the central bank noted the continued "strong labour market" and "solid" gains in economic activity, it also highlighted a slowdown in investment by businesses and households and inflation, which has fallen below the Fed's target.

China unveils plans to further open up banking and insurance sectors. China will further relax rules for foreign banks and insurers of all sizes that plan to invest in the domestic industry, the latest round of easing amid efforts to conclude a trade deal with the US. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission plans to remove single shareholder limits for local banks among a slew of new measures that are aimed at further opening up the sector, according to a notice on the regulator's website.

Oil prices mixed as talk of extending Opec cuts faces rising US supply. Brent crude oil futures settled at US$72.18 a barrel, up 12 cents, or 0.2 per cent, after falling as low as US$71.30. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) ended 31 cents, or 0.5 per cent, lower at US$63.60 a barrel, up from its US$62.77 session low. US crude inventories jumped 9.9 million barrels last week to 470.6 million barrels to their highest since September 2017 as imports grew to their highest since January and refining rates dropped below 90 per cent of total capacity, the Energy Information Administration said.

White House says ready to walk if no China trade deal soon. The White House is ramping up pressure to reach a trade deal with China in the next two weeks, warning that the US is prepared to walk away from the negotiations. "It won't go on forever," Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's acting chief of staff, said Tuesday at an event in Los Angeles. "At some point in any negotiation you go, 'we're close to getting something done so we're going to keep going.' On the other hand, at some point you throw up your hands and say ‘this is never going anywhere.'"

Centurion gets conditional OK for workers' dorm and training centre at Westlite Toh Guan. Centurion Corp has obtained conditional permission to reconstruct an existing block at Westlite Toh Guan, and the workers and students accommodation developer will seek to extend the existing lease on the project by 25 years. The outline permission from URA is subject to certain conditions. This includes approvals from various government authorities and the payment of a development premium to be agreed with the Singapore Land Authority.

Source: SGX Masnet, The Business Times, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, PSR