1 New home building in the United States fell about 3 per cent last month - more than expected - indicating the country's real estate recovery will take time.

About 1.13 million new homes began construction, down from 1.16 million in July.

2 Initial jobless claims in the United States declined last week to the lowest level in two months, reflecting a resilient labour market. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 11,000 to 264,000 in the week ended Sept 12.

3 Frasers Property Australia, a unit of Frasers Centrepoint, has secured over A$275 million (S$276 million) worth of new projects in the past 12 months, the firm said yesterday.

Its total commercial and industrial portfolio is valued at about A$2.4 billion.

4 Soilbuild Construction is making its maiden foray into civil works building, winning a $39.7 million contract from the Land Transport Authority to build covered linkways to Downtown Line 3 and Tuas West Extension stations.

5 TTJ has secured $16 million worth of contracts in Singapore and Malaysia. It will build structural steelworks for a liquefied natural gas project in Pengerang, Johor, and provide civil defence doors for MRT stations on the Thomson Line here.