Good morning! Morning Minutes is a round-up of stories that will break on Wednesday, Jan 6, and which we think you'd be interested in.
It appears on weekdays, available by 7am.
First COE bidding for the year
The first open bidding exercise for certificates of entitlement (COE) for the year, which started on Monday (Jan 4), will end on Wednesday (Jan 6) at 4pm. The total quota available for this tender is 3,622. In December 2015, COE prices registered a substantial drop, with industry watchers predicting that prices will continue to fall, due to the bumper crop of COEs coming on the market. - CHRISTOPHER TAN
Las Vegas electronics show set to dazzle
People watching Tipcron robots moving around at The CES Unveiled press event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan 4, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) tech extravaganza officially opens on Wednesday (Jan 6) in Las Vegas. With more than 3,600 exhibitors, the event is expected to showcase innovation across a range of sectors - from health care to autos, connected homes, virtual reality and gaming. Televisions are likely, once again, to be stars on show floor at CES, but new talent in the form of drones, robots, 3-D printers, and virtual reality, along with smart cars and homes are expected to also grab attention.
The show is owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which represents the US$285 billion (S$406 billion) US consumer technology industry
US to release economic data reports
Employees working on the eight-speed transmission at the FCA US LLC Kokomo Transmission Plant in Kokomo, Indiana. PHOTO: REUTERS
The United States will announce a swathe raft of economic reports today, including data on trade activity, the monthly private employment report and minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting that ended with the first rate increase since 2006.
A private gauge on Monday showed manufacturing in the US contracted in December at the fastest pace in more than six years as factories, hobbled by sluggish global growth, cut staff at the end of 2015. Investors will closely watch the new data for signs of economic growth, amid a slump on equities over China's continued slowdown, and as the Fed's Open Market Committee readies to convene again in the final week of January.
