The STI fell 1.5%, dragged lower by OCBC, UOB & Singtel but plenty of action in second line

Date: April 27, 2026

• Oil rose but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite jumped to new highs
• Dragged down by OCBC, UOB & Singtel, the STI fell 1.5%
• US Fed expected to keep interest rates unchanged this week
• Koh Brothers, KBE led play on small caps
• Nanofilm shares jump on increased revenue, profit margin
• Thai hospitality giant eyes SGX for 14-hotel, US$1b Reit listing
• Kin Global debuted at 15.2% premium on its Catalist debut
• New CPF life-cycle scheme could channel up to S$9b a year into stocks: Citi

 

OCBC, UOB & Singtel drag STI down 1.5%

Over on Wall Street traders continued to bet that the Middle East conflict will end soon and so sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to all-time closing highs. This did not spill over to local blue chips though, with the Straits Times Index losing about 75 points or 1.5% over the week at 4,922.86.

The main drags on the STI were OCBC, UOB and Singtel – OCBC lost S$1.01 or 4.4% at S$21.71, UOB fell S$1.40 or 3.7% to S$36 and Singtel dropped S$0.18 or 3.7% to S$4.63.

There was, however, plenty of rotational playing in the second line that benefited several small- and mid-caps.

No end to Iran war, oil rose but Wall St closed at new highs

Crude oil futures increased around 13.2% this week to settle around US$94, and Brent futures also rose, by 17.2% to US$105 per barrel as of post-market Friday.

Iran has said it will not participate in a second round of talks with the U.S., objecting to what it described as excessive and unrealistic demands from Washington. Also, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has reportedly stepped down as Tehran’s lead negotiator.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5% and the blue-chip Dow declined 0.4%.

US Fed expected to keep interest rates unchanged this week

The US central bank meets this week and is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.5-3.75%. As of Friday, the futures market was pricing in a 100% chance that will be kept steady at what could be Jerome Powell’s last meeting as Fed chair.

Koh Brothers, KBE led the play on small caps

Small caps enjoyed heavy play and large percentage gains in high volume. On Monday for example, Natural Cool jumped S$0.056 or 119% to S$0.103 with 4.3m traded, Mencast surged S$0.021 or 27.6% to S$0.097 on volume whilst Koh Brothers Eco Engineering (KBE) gained S$0.017 or 13.5% at S$0.143 on turnover of 133.4m.

In the case of KBE, the push came after 68.1%-owned unit Oiltek crossed S$1 billion in market capitalisation. There was also a play on parent Koh Brothers, which on Monday shot up S$0.075 or 18.3% to S$0.485 with 9.9m done.

Oiltek on Apr 6 announced plans to jointly develop a US$350 million sustainable aviation fuel biorefinery in Sabah, Malaysia, with Brunei-based renewable fuel company BioSeaga Industries.

This prompted CGS International, UOB Kay Hian and Phillip Securities to raise their target prices for Oiltek to between S$2.72 and S$3.38.

As a result, some KBG shareholders asked for a distribution of Oiltek shares in-specie upstream to KBE shareholders, but KBG declined to put this request to a vote at its recent annual general meeting.

Nanofilm shares jump on increased revenue, profit margin

Shares of deep-tech company Nanofilm Technologies International surged on Thursday rocketed up S$0.41 or 40.2% to S$1.43 on heavy volume of 77m shares after it reported a 24% year-on-year increase in revenue to S$55 million for its first quarter.

The stock continued to rise on Friday, jumping S$0.11 or 7.7% to S$1.54 with 63m traded.

Nanofilm said that its operating expenses rose in line with revenue growth in Q1, though its operating expenditure-to-revenue ratio declined.

Margins improved on the back of higher revenue and better cost control during the period, it added. Gross profit margin came in at 39% in Q1, up from 27% a year earlier.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin rose to 26% compared with 12% in Q1 2025.

“Earnings trajectory remains firmly upward,” noted DBS analyst Lee Keng Ling in a Thursday note, adding that “diversified demand pipelines and semiconductor uptick support sustained operating leverage”.

The company’s outlook for FY2026 “remains positive”, said DBS’ Lee, who anticipates continued revenue and earnings growth for all of its key segments.

This is set to be driven by “expanding functional coating adoption, new product introductions and improving end-market demand across semiconductor, automotive and consumer electronics segments”.

Nanofilm specialises in advanced coatings, thin-film equipment, nanofabrication and hydrogen fuel cell innovations. It operates offices and facilities in Singapore, Vietnam, China, Japan, India and Germany.

Thai hospitality giant eyes SGX for 14-hotel, US$1b Reit listing

According to a Straits Times report, Thailand’s largest hospitality group is seeking to list a real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore before the end of 2026 to fund the development of more branded residences.

Under the plan, Thailand-listed Minor International will seed the REIT with 14 hotels – 12 in Europe and two in Thailand – in a US$1 billion (S$1.27 billion) initial public offering (IPO) on the Singapore Exchange.

Minor International, which runs a portfolio of more than 600 hotels worldwide, including its flagship Anantara Hotels & Resorts, is also in a partnership to build its first hotel in Singapore; the 200-key Avani Singapore in Tanjong Pagar is expected to open in early 2027.

The 126.5 billion baht (S$5 billion) market capitalisation company also runs a network of 2,700 restaurants worldwide under its food division, which it plans to list separately in Hong Kong.

The 14 hotels identified for the Singapore REIT have delivered consistent returns for more than a decade, with the group targeting yields of at least 6-8% to ensure investor interest, The Straits Times understands.

Kin Global closed at 15.2% on its Catalist debut

Sports event management firm Kin Global debuted on Catalist on Thursday, closing at S$0.265 on volume of 12.5m, which is S$0.035 or 15.2% above the S$0.23 offer price.

However, the moementum was not sustained on Friday, with the stock falling S$0.025 to S$0.24.

Kin’s public offer of one million shares was 29.5 times subscribed whilst the placement tranche of 23.9 million shares drew a subscription of about 2.9 times.

Cornerstone investors include Amova Asset Management Asia, Apricot Capital, Asdew Acquisitions, Qilin Wealth Fund and Rudolf Jurgen August Rolles.

The Singapore-based company – which counts the World Aquatics Championships, Fide World Chess Championship Singapore 2024 and Singapore 2024 World Taekwondo Virtual Championships as projects under its belt – is the third company to list on the Catalist board this year, after The Assembly Place and Toku.

New CPF life-cycle scheme could channel up to S$9b a year into stocks: Citi

The new Central Provident Fund (CPF) life-cycle investment scheme, set to launch in 2028, could unleash billions into the Singapore stock market said Citi.

Citi highlighted the untapped potential offered by the new scheme. It noted that CPF generated around S$58 billion in annual contribution inflows in 2025.

“Assuming 10 to 15% of this amount is allocated into equities annually, the market could see an additional S$6 billion to S$9 billion in annual liquidity injection, thereby providing sustained demand (and) support for Singapore equities beyond EQDP’s potential end,” said the bank.

The EQDP, or Equity Market Development Programme, is an initiative by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to boost liquidity. Launched in 2025, the initiative will see S$6.5b allocated to fund managers to invest in the Singapore market. Its funds are expected to be fully deployed by 2027.

Under the new scheme, CPF members can invest their CPF savings into a range of instruments including equities through diversified life-cycle portfolios – which offer potentially higher returns than those provided by the risk-free interest rates of the existing CPF system.

Currently, around only 3% of CPF’s S$661 billion cash funds are registered under the CPF Investment Scheme, which can be used for equities, said Citi. This proportion is the lowest among Asia-Pacific pension funds, which typically invest around 10-48% of holdings into equities.

“Longer-term, we see the revision of the CPF Investment Scheme to potentially drive added liquidity into the market with current direct equity exposure of Singapore pension fund money being among the lowest in Asia-Pacific to date,” the bank added.