（纽约／伦敦综合电）美元走强和美国利率上升前景引发市场大举抛售黄金，大宗商品价格全线下滑。金价已跌至五年低位，未来金价预计继续走低，分析师纷纷预测黄金价格年底会跌至接近每安士1000美元，国际投行高盛（Goldman Sachs）更大胆预言，今年金价将跌破1000美元 。
金价前日一度下跌4%，至每安士1088美元，这是自2010年3月以来的最低水平。亚洲的大笔抛盘致使价值超过17亿美元的黄金在开盘不久的几分钟内被卖出。后来金价回升至每安士1109美元。
高盛商品研究员杰菲里·凯利（Jeffrey Currie）认为，眼下黄金最糟糕的时刻还没有到来，金价今年料跌破每安士1000美元，为2009年来首次。该行之前认为年底金价将跌至1050美元。
政府将在七月五日（星期天）开始，使用改良版的个人政府电子密码系统（SingPass），除了采用更有保障的双重密码外，页面设计更简洁易用，忘记密码的用户可要求系统发送密码到自己的手机，比等候信密码信件方便。
新系统启用后，用户须登入www.singpass.gov.sg网站，提供并确认联系方式，设定保安问题和答案。启用后，用户登入时须输入名字和两道密码，才能在政府机构网站上进行电子交易，这比目前只须输入一道密码，更有保障。
SINGAPORE — There’ll be free bus and train rides all day this National Day (August 9).
In a move to encourage everyone to attend celebrations of the Republic’s 50th year of independence, public transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT Corporation, have jointly announced that they will be offering free travel on board all buses and trains.
Commuters in Singapore will not have to tap in or out with their fare cards when they board buses. Fare gantries at all MRT stations will also be left open.
Free travel will start from the first service bus or train until the end of operation.
Besides the initial payment of US$1.2 billion, Manulife will also make ongoing, variable payments to DBS "based on the success of the partnership", the two firms said in a joint statement.
The bancassurance model - which involves selling insurance through banks as opposed to the traditional agency - is lucrative for commercial banks in Asia because global insurers are willing to pay hefty fees for access to lenders' branch networks.
According to Reuters, AIA Group struck a 15-year exclusive deal with Citibank in Asia in 2013, for which AIA made a US$800 million upfront payment. UK insurer Prudential also struck an agreement last year with Standard Chartered, agreeing to pay US$1.25 billion in fees to extend its current agreement for 15 years.
DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said: “Bancassurance is a key focus for DBS and an important part of our overall customer value proposition."
Manulife is the world's sixth-largest life insurer with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States, where it operates under the John Hancock name. The company first established a presence in Singapore in 1898 while its Hong Kong operations began in 1897. Assets under management by Manulife and its subsidiaries were approximately C$691 billion (S$753 billion) as at Dec 31, 2014.
