Hopes For Rate Cut Bolster Appetite For Risk
Global risk appetite continued to show signs of improvement on Tuesday as investors anticipated further central bank interest rate cuts and awaited the result of the US presidential election – widely expected to be a victory for Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee. Equity and commodity prices rallied strongly, credit spreads narrowed and the yen and dollar broadly retreated. Meanwhile, speculation that the European Central Bank and the Bank of England would cut interest rates aggresively on Thursday was fuelled by a big reduction in Australian borrowing costs. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 75 basis points, more than had been expected, to 5.25% - lowest since March 2005. That left Australian rates down 2 percentage points in two months.

Luzhou Bio-Chem Acquires Rmb22.8m Power Plants And Related Assets
Luzhou Bio-Chem Technology has, through its unit, Wuhan Luzhou Jiabao Bio-Chem Technology, inked an agreement with Wuhan City Dongxihu District People’s Government to acquire a power plant and related assets for Rmb22.8m. The power plant, which has been dormant, will be used to supply the unit with electricity required for its manufacturing operations. The vendor shall subsidise Rmb4m for the cost of restarting the operations of the power plant.

STX Pan Ocean Secures Contract Of Affreight For Iron Ore
STX Pan Ocean has inked a 15-year Contract of Affreightment with Glovis, a Korean integrated logistics company, in respect of the shipping of approximately 510k tons of iron ore annually with one dedicated vessel for iron ore at sales scale of approximately US$10m. Starting from 2011 to 2026, the loading of the iron ore will take place in Brazil and the purpose of the contract is to secure a stabilized source of profit.

Rotary Engineering Wins Four Contracts Worth $27.7m In Total
Mainboard-listed Rotary Engineering has secured four contracts amounting to $27.7m which include an Engineering, Procurement & Construction contract awarded by Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore and three revamp and maintenance contracts of varying values secured through its unit, Rotary IMC.

Olam Amongst Top 10 Globalised Companies In Singapore International 100 Ranking
Olam International, a leading global, integrated supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients, has been ranked one of the top 10 most globalised companies in the Singapore International 100 Ranking 2008 by International Enterprise Singapore for the 4th consecutive year. The company also topped the segment of Africa in terms of overseas revenue.

Memory Devices Issues Profit Warning
Memory Devices has issued statement that it expects to incur losses for 3Q08 due to further worsening of the weak business conditions of the solid state memory market. Further details will be disclosed upon announcing its results for the financial period ending 30 September 2008.

China Taisan Posts Sterling 70.5% Growth In 3Q08 Net Profit
Mainboard-listed China Taisan Technology, a leading producer of knitted performance fabrics used in sports and leisure apparel for renowned brands such as Nike, has posted an impressive 70.5% growth in 3Q08 net earnings to Rmb181.8m. Revenue jumped 66.8% to Rmb850.2m as a result of continued growth in demand for performance fabrics that command higher selling prices.