Indicating a positive sign of recovery for Japan's recession-hit economy, the ministry and industry data revealed an increase in the sales of electronic goods, thanks to the country's May 15-launched incentives for ecological gadgets.

Firefly, the budget airline promoted by Malaysia Airlines, has started flights to Singapore from several Malaysian cities. The company plans regional expansion in month of July and will add more destination in order to increase capacity.

With the new service, Firefly would become the fourth no-frills carrier to fly the lucrative route from the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. The company will surely offer some stiff competition to rivals AirAsia, Jetstar and Tiger Airways in a market hit by the global economic slump.

Singpoare Stocks surged 1.5 per cent on back of strong global cues and decent rally in regional exchanges. Asian stocks ended higher on hope of easing recession in major financial markets.

Furthermore, the dealers witnessed the blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) closing up 36.11 points at 2,329.08 on volume of 3.0 billion shares worth 2.64 billion Singapore dollars (1.82 billion US).

The dealers commented that the market reflected gains on other Asian bourses, which were in turn fuelled by a rise on Wall Street. 

As per the media reports, Singapore-based power utility major Island Power has been acquired by GMR Infrastructure on Friday. The amount for the deal has not been disclosed.

It was confirmed by GMR Infra in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, “GMR Group today signed an agreement with the international power producer InterGen to acquire its 100 per cent ownership stake in Island Power.”

On Monday, the official data specified that in April, Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.7% over the same period last year, which is the first decline registered since June 2005.

If adhered to the Singapore Department of Statistics than the lower costs of transport and communication, housing and recreation was mainly responsible for the decline. A decline by 6.3 percent was seen in cost of transport and communication, while housing cost plunged by 1.7 percent in April year-on-year.

It was recently announced by Muslim clerics who were debating the exploding popularity of Facebook in Indonesia that the networking site could be used by the followers to connect with friends or for work - but not to gossip or flirt.

The decision came after a two-day meeting of clerics in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

In the latest billions-of-dollars overseas energy and resource-related takeovers by cash-rich Chinese companies, Asia's oil and gas bigwig PetroChina has gone in for a $1.02 billion (1.47 billion Singapore dollars) acquisition of Keppel Corp's 45.5 percent stake in Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC).

The first quarter of this year saw Singapore’s economy contracting less than thought earlier, thus pointing an improvement in economic activity in March.

A contraction in the country’s GDP by 14.6% was witnessed compared with the previous three months. This is better than the 19.7% fall estimated by the government in April.

It won’t be wrong to say that the year -on-year contraction of 10.1% which is an improvement over the previous estimate of 11.5%.

$600 million would be invested by Singapore state investment agency Temasek Holdings in order to raise its stake in China Construction Bank to 6.5 percent from 6 percent.

A source familiar with the matter said that with the aim to enhance Temasek’s equity stake in CCB, the world's second-largest lender by market value, the company is mulling to pay $600 million.

As per the media reports, the investment would boost Temasek's holding to 6.5 percent, or 14.3 billion shares.

As per the media reports, a cash call was announced Friday by the commercial real estate investment trust CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) to raise nearly $828.3 million.

It has been learnt that at a price of 59 cents a piece, CCT unitholders can subscribe for one new unit in CCT for every existing unit held.

Ms Lynette Leong, chief executive of the trust's manager CCT Management informed that CCT's gearing would be reduced by the rights issue to the low end of their target gearing range of 30 per cent to 45 per cent through property market cycles.