Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened higher on Friday. STI rose 0.72%; OCBC Bank, UOB, Bumitama Agri, OUEREIT, YZJ Shipbldg jumped around 1%.
Stocks in Focus
Frasers Property: The CEO of Frasers Hospitality Eu Chin Fen will be stepping down, effective Jan 1, 2027. This follows the privatisation of Frasers Hospitality Trust and its portfolio optimisation. Frasers Hospitality’s leadership structure “will be strategically segmented, aligning with group resources, and reporting into senior group leadership”. Its chief operating officer Chew Hang Song will report to the group CEO. The counter closed at S$0.955 on Thursday, down S$0.01 or 1 per cent.
StarHub: The telco said it will acquire MyRepublic’s mobile business by Apr 30, 2027. The value of the transaction is not fixed, but is dependent on the total 4G and 5G MyRepublic mobile subscribers, average revenue per user of active 4G and 5G subscribers, as well as subscriber lifetime. StarHub will also pay additional cash amounts when specific subscriber migration milestones are met. Shares of StarHub ended at S$1.10 on Thursday, S$0.02 or 1.8 per cent lower.
NTT DC Reit: The real estate investment trust’s (Reit) manager is proposing changes to its management fee structure, that it expects will better align with the interests of the unitholders of the Reit. It is looking to link its performance fee directly to year-on-year growth in the distribution per unit. Units of NTT DC Reit ended 0.5 per cent or US$0.005 lower at US$0.935 on Thursday.
SG Local News
Singapore Bank Shares Tumble as Yield Surge Threatens Earnings
A selloff in Singapore bank shares deepened after JPMorgan Chase & Co. warned that surging long bond yields will hurt third-quarter earnings for Southeast Asian lenders.
DBS Group Holdings Ltd. and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. fell more than 4% each, while United Overseas Bank Ltd. dropped 5.2%. They were among the biggest drags on the benchmark Straits Times Index, which tumbled 3.5%, the most since April 2025. The index was the worst performer in Asia.
The drop comes after a yearslong rally in Singapore lenders driven by record profits and the city-state’s growing stature as a global wealth hub. That supportive backdrop is now being tested by concerns over the impact of high bond yields on dividend payouts, with valuations elevated.
Singapore Hotel Rates Race Higher for F1 Weekend Despite Softer Early Demand
While hotel room rates for the Formula 1 (F1) Singapore Grand Prix 2026 weekend have raced higher, occupancies possibly lag the 2025 record. Still, hotels may yet pull ahead.
The race weekend, from Friday (Oct 9) to Sunday, will feature music acts including South Korean boy group Cortis and American pop icon Lana Del Rey.
The recent weeks leading up to the race have also seen Singapore play host to more than 40 business events – including crypto and Web3 conference Token2049 Singapore, the Milken Institute Asia Summit and the Forbes Global CEO Conference – as well as companies’ regional or global meetings, which have created spillover benefits.