Federal Reserve says economic risks have receded. Risks to the US economic outlook, including trade uncertainty and Brexit, have receded but are still present, the US Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. And with inflation pressures still muted the central bank can afford to be patient before deciding on any further rate moves, according to the minutes of the April 30-May 1 policy meeting, when the Fed left the key lending rate unchanged.

US judge says Qualcomm violated antitrust law; appeal planned, shares plunge. Qualcomm Inc illegally suppressed competition in the market for smartphone chips by threatening to cut off supplies and extracting excessive licensing fees, a US judge ruled, a decision that could force the company to overhaul its business practices. The decision issued late Tuesday night by US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, caused Qualcomm shares to plunge 11 per cent on Wednesday.

MAS, ABS set up steering group for better conduct among banks in S'pore. A steering group has been set up to foster more rigorous culture and conduct practices among banks in Singapore, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on Wednesday. The Singapore regulator has been intensifying its supervision of financial institutions in the past two years, including conducting culture and conduct surveys at several banks, as well as thematic inspections of incentive structures.

SingHaiyi posts 47.6% rise in Q4 net profit to S$9.74m. Real estate group SingHaiyi on Wednesday announced that Q4FY19 net profit rose 47.6 per cent year-on-year to S$9.74 million. Revenue declined 67.6 per cent to S$9.84 million mainly due to the decrease in revenue recognised for the completed executive condominium project, The Vales, and the private condominium, City Suites. Earnings per share came to 0.228 Singapore cent versus 0.209 cent previously.

Yongnam inks agreement for proposed placement of convertible bonds. Yongnam Holdings has entered into a placement agreement to raise capital by placing out up to S$15 million worth of redeemable convertible bonds. The maturity date of the non-listed bonds is two years from the issue date, and the bonds will bear interest at a rate of 7 per cent per annum, payable every six months. The conversion price of S$0.179 represents a premium of approximately 6.55 per cent to the prevailing market price of the shares prior to the signing of the placement agreement.

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