Market View: Asian markets inched higher in holiday-thinned trade; Gold pushes higher, silver hits record amid US-Venezuela tensions; Singapore factory output rises 14.3% yoy in November; Japan to quadruple spending support for chips, AI in budget; Sembcorp Industries, Keppel Reit to watch

Singapore shares dipped today with investors now back from the Christmas Day holiday. The Straits Times Index was down 0.06% at 4,633.73 points at 2.42pm Singapore time, with a value turnover of S$426.90M seen in the broader market. In terms of counters to watch, we have Sembcorp Industries, after Sembcorp Green Infra, an Indian unit of Sembcorp Industries, today completed the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in solar power company ReNew Sun Bright for about S$246 million.  Elsewhere, from how Singapore’s factory output jumped 14.3 per cent year on year in November, to how Japan’s industry ministry is set to nearly quadruple its budgeted support for cutting-edge semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) development to about 1.2 trillion yen (S$9.9 billion) for the fiscal year starting in April, more economic and international headlines remained in focus. On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with Benjamin Goh, Head of Research and Investor Education, SIAS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.