“Three hours queuing just to get fuel”: Bali runs low on fuel, sparking long lines at pumps

“It is exhausting and frustrating, especially when you depend on your bike to get to work,” said Christine Nababan, a Sanur-based catering business owner who spent nearly three hours queuing to refuel her motorbike, disrupting her work transporting food around the island.

https://bt.sg/pCDX

Singapore’s GDP grows 5.4% in Q3, supported by electronics

Manufacturing sector up by 7.5% year on year in 3 months to September, from 12.9% in Q2.

https://bt.sg/Cmcg

MAS holds policy settings, pausing after two straight tightenings

Core inflation forecast for 2026 narrowed to 1.5 to 2% as MAS sees price pressures easing from mid-2027.

https://bt.sg/g89u

Start your day with BT ☕️:

Stocks to watch: Kore, Parkway Life Reit, Raffles Education, Vin’s Holdings https://bt.sg/8AHq

Top stories:
1. Companies: Private banks intensify efforts to build Singapore talent bench as wealth sector booms https://bt.sg/ubaL

2. Opinion: Looking beyond looming CEO succession, should UOB potentially pursue a transformative merger? https://bt.sg/dPN4

3. Singapore: IMDA expands digital support for SMEs https://bt.sg/oeVi6

Family offices ‘kept captive’ by relationship managers turn to independent advisers, direct deals

The extent of this shift largely depends on a family office’s scale, say industry players.

https://bt.sg/Fmc7

DBS downgrades SGX to ‘hold’, lowers target price to S$20

On Tuesday (Oct 13), analyst Rui Wen Lim said the downgrade reflected easing growth momentum in both equities and derivatives after two years of record performance, leaving the stock’s valuation looking “lofty” ahead of SGX’s first-half results.

https://bt.sg/bnH5

Vietnam’s race for growth tests pace of energy transition: experts

“When you grow very fast, you need much more growth in energy than in GDP (gross domestic product),” says an industry watcher, underscoring the urgent demand for more renewables and cleaner technologies.

https://bt.sg/KSaD

Microsoft hits first record in a year after US$1.4 trillion rally; shares soar 54% from June low

This caps a dramatic rebound for the firm that months ago was among the S&P 500 Index’s worst performers.

https://bt.sg/5jEei

Singapore to build digital bunkering data ecosystem

The system will reduce intermediary handling and provide greater assurance over the integrity of transactions.

https://bt.sg/oYBQq

Hongkong Land in talks with Ong Beng Seng’s HPL for stake in Orchard Road buildings: sources

A potential deal may involve the voco Orchard hotel, Forum mall and HPL House.

https://bt.sg/xHFd

Asean companies keen on AI for business benefits, despite its energy costs

Almost four in five South-east Asian businesses believe AI’s benefits outweigh its energy demands, despite rising costs and infrastructure pressures.

The Business Times Insights: Powering Asean’s Future 2026 – the second regional survey by BT and Kantar – found that businesses in Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand were the most optimistic.

https://bt.sg/vR2N

Singapore growth to stay firm, but AI boost to moderate in 2027: MAS

In the near term, strong orders for AI products and an increase in production capacity “should sustain firm growth in the technology-related sectors”, says MAS.

https://bt.sg/L3fp

AI is moving faster than the infrastructure powering it, panellists say

Microsoft, Keppel executives say the AI boom is forcing new approaches to power and data centre investment.

Brought to you by Shell

https://bt.sg/Bc4p

Malaysia court rejects Najib’s bid to suspend additional 15-year sentence in separate 1MDB case

Najib may soon be transferred to house arrest following a royal pardon in a separate case.

https://bt.sg/w4cVU

Anthropic works to bring frontier AI models ‘on soil’ in Singapore, signs government pact

The Claude developer is building its team here, but there are no plans for a research operation – for now.

https://bt.sg/spMq

Singapore-registered vessel hit by projectile sinks in Strait of Hormuz; another damaged

All 43 crew members are safe; none are Singaporean.

https://bt.sg/FDbQy

Singapore collecting data on haze, will ‘keep its options open’ on taking legal action: Grace Fu

Singapore has faced several haze episodes that crossed the threshold for its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to be breached.

https://bt.sg/cFKD

Start your day with BT ☕️:

Stocks to watch: HPL, Aims Apac Reit, Zico, Advanced Systems Automation, ComfortDelGro https://bt.sg/6HzQ

Top stories:
1. Singapore: Bubble or nothing? Looking at the AI boom as part of a cycle https://bt.sg/oHtSW

2. Companies: PwC will keep hiring even as AI reshapes junior roles: global chairman https://bt.sg/B2hr

3. Singapore: Surprise MAS hold signals core inflation near peak; economists see longer pause in policy tightening https://bt.sg/ehwf

Netflix cuts about 6% of jobs in biggest layoff since 2022, WSJ reports

Most of the job cuts will be in the company’s product, tech, legal and HR teams.

https://bt.sg/bkJH

ComfortDelGro appoints two new independent directors

Deputy chairman Choi Shing Kwok is retiring from his role at the end of the year.

https://bt.sg/EZBq