Singapore shares closed lower this week. The Straits Times Index (STI) ended at 3,882.42, down 0.4% for the week.

SIA Engineering inks S$1.3 billion deal to service SIA, Scoot fleets

Mainboard-listed SIA Engineering signed fresh services agreements with national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot on Tuesday (May 20), in a deal expected to yield a total labour revenue of S$1.3 billion.

The new agreements took effect from Apr 1 for a term of two years, with a one-year extension option, said the company.

The signing supersedes earlier contracts inked in April 2023.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding order wins dip to US$300 million in Q1

Marine vessel manufacturer Yangzijiang Shipbuilding reported that its year-to-date order wins for the first quarter of 2025 amount to six vessels worth US$300 million.

This is around 5 per cent of its US$6 billion target for the 2025 financial year, it said in a quarterly business update on Thursday (May 22).

In the same period last year, it won orders for 38 vessels worth US$3.3 billion, or 74 per cent of its target. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s total order wins for FY2024 stood at 126, with a value of US$14.6 billion, the highest since its listing in 2022.

Singapore’s core inflation inches up to 0.7% in April; headline inflation is unchanged at 0.9%

Singapore’s core inflation came in higher than expected in April, driven by higher food and services prices, while headline inflation stood pat, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Friday (May 23).

April’s core inflation, which excludes accommodation and private transport, rose to 0.7 per cent. This was marginally higher than March’s 0.5 per cent and the median forecast of 0.5 per cent by private-sector economists polled by Bloomberg.

Headline inflation was unchanged at 0.9 per cent – higher than economists’ median forecast of 0.8 per cent.

Singapore’s Wong Unveils New Cabinet, Keeps Finance Minister Job

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled his new cabinet Wednesday, opting to retain his role as finance minister following a convincing electoral victory earlier this month, CNA reported.

Among a number of senior officials switching jobs, Chan Chun Sing becomes the city-state’s new defense minister, relinquishing the role of education minister to another cabinet official, Desmond Lee. Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth in the last government, will serve as law minister.

Wong, a 52-year-old Harvard alumnus who took over the finance portfolio in 2021, became the nation’s first new prime minister in two decades after succeeding Lee Hsien Loong last year. The ruling party then won 87 of 97 seats in parliament in the May 3 election, as Singaporeans worried about the economy flocked to a party that has been in power for six decades.