Driven by the banks, the STI hit five consecutive all-time highs

Date: July 14, 2025

• The STI rose on all five days, gaining 1.84% to an all-time high 4,087.81
• Banks led the way with OCBC up 2.5%
• US stocks pulled back on Friday after more tariffs were announced
• Odds of US rate cut this month down to only 5.2%; all eyes on key inflation data this week
• Led by ST Engineering, FTSE ST Industrials has generated 17% total return in 2025: SGX Research
• Lum Chang Creations launched IPO on Catalist to raise funds for expansion
• Sale of Del Monte products in Singapore not affected by US unit’s bankruptcy filing
• Popiah king Sam Goi makes mandatory offer for rest of PSC at S$0.40 a share
• Dutch firm moves to privatise Grand Venture Technology at S$0.94 per share

 

Five consecutive all-time highs for the STI

The Straits Times Index rose on all five trading days last week, gaining a total of 74 points or 1.84% to an all-time high of 4,087.81.

Banks took over as the prime drivers of the STI led by OCBC’s S$0.41 or 2.5% rise to S$16.89. This was followed by UOB, which added S$0.71 or 2% at S$36.86 and DBS, with a S$0.78 or 1.7% gain at S$45.99.

Wall St also rose to all-time highs – except for Friday

Underpinning sentiment was a firm Wall Street, where stocks rose to all-time highs – except for Friday when prices fell after US president Trump announced a higher-than-expected 35% tariff on Canada and said tariffs on most of the US’s other trading partners would be 15-20%.

Over the weekend, Trump issued letters to several countries outlining tariff rates against them, including major trading partners such as Japan, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, and the Philippines. He also targeted copper imports with a 50% tariff and said pharmaceuticals could be charged a levy of as much as 200%.

For the week, the S&P 500 shed 0.3%, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%.

Odds of US rate cut now down to 5.2%, all eyes on key inflation data this week and bank earnings

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told the Wall Street Journal that the tariffs this week have made it more difficult to support rate cuts right now as the president has demanded.

As a result, odds of a cut when the Fed meets at the end of the month are now at 5.2%, down from 18.2% a month ago.

Wall Street will get updates on consumer and producer price inflation this week, which will cement whether or not a July cut is still in play, and provide context heading into September.

Banks will also kick off earnings season, which could get dicey with the major indexes already trading at record highs. Things are priced to perfection, so any missteps on earnings or the economy could cut into this year’s rally.

Led by ST Engineering, FTSE ST Industrials has generated 17% total return in 2025: SGX Research

In a 9 July Market Update, SGX Research reported that the FTSE ST Industrials Index has outpaced the STI in 2025, generating a 17% total return.

“Global supply chain shifts, coupled with rising AI-driven productivity and a strong pipeline of construction projects, have bolstered industrial momentum and market confidence in 1H25—reflected in S$588M net institutional inflows to the Industrial Sector in 2025’’ said SGX Research.

It also reported that ST Engineering has emerged as the FTSE ST Industrials Index and STI’s top performer in 2025 with a 78% total return and the third highest net institutional inflow, underpinned by its diversified business across aerospace, defence, and smart city domains, strategic digital investments, and a consensus target price upgrade from S$5.02 to S$8.30.

“Beyond the benchmarks, OKP Holdings has surged 200% YTD, lifting its P/E to 8.9x, backed by a 19% ROE and a 10x jump in trading liquidity. With a near S$300M market cap and S$736M order book, it maintains it is well-positioned for long-term growth across construction, maintenance, and rental, supported by smart automation and a strong balance sheet’’.

Lum Chang Creations launched IPO on Catalist to raise funds for expansion

Lum Chang Creations last week launched its initial public offer (IPO) of 49 million shares at S$0.25 each to raise around S$12.3m to fund its expansion.

The IPO will comprise one million new shares available to the public in Singapore, and 48 million offered via placement – 34 million new shares and 14 million existing ones.

Lum Chang Creations, a spin-off from mainboard-listed real estate developer Lum Chang Holdings, specialises in conservation and restoration interior fit-outs, among other works.

It will be looking for merger and acquisition opportunities and has already identified potential targets, said chief executive Lim Thiam Hooi. It also plans to expand to Malaysia and Indonesia.

Based on the IPO price and a post-listing share base of 315 million, the company is expected to debut on Catalist with a market capitalisation of $78.75 million.

Lum Chang Holdings will hold a 71.1% stake in Lum Chang Creations after the IPO, while Mr Lim will own around 13.3% The public will account for the remaining 15.6%.

The company intends to declare dividends amounting to 30% of profits for the 2025 and 2026 financial years.

Sale of Del Monte products in Singapore not affected by US unit’s bankruptcy filing

Singapore-listed Del Monte Pacific said the sale of Del Monte-branded products here will not be affected by the bankruptcy filing of its US subsidiary, Del Monte Foods.

Saddled with US$1.2 billion (S$1.5 billion) in secured debt, Del Monte Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 1 to support a planned sale of the business and restructuring of its finances.

The company has secured US$912.5 million in emergency funding to maintain operations during the process.

However although disruptions to sales here are unlikely, Singapore shareholders of Del Monte Pacific will be affected by Del Monte Food’s bankruptcy filing as its restructuring will result in a deconsolidation of the subsidiary from its parent.

Del Monte Pacific also disclosed in an exchange filing on July 7 that it expects to book a capital deficit on its balance sheet from write-offs in relation to Del Monte Foods.

Its equity investment in Del Monte Foods and certain receivables due from the US subsidiary are also expected to be subject to impairment. As at Jan 31, Del Monte Pacific’s net investment value in Del Monte Foods was US$579 million. It also has US$169 million in net receivables from Del Monte Foods and its subsidiaries.

In 2024, the US company accounted for 70% of Del Monte Pacific’s 2024 sales. Del Monte Foods’ net loss position also caused the group to slip into the red.

Popiah king Sam Goi makes mandatory offer for rest of PSC at S$0.40 a share

Local tycoon Sam Goi has made a mandatory offer to buy the remaining shares of PSC Corp that he does not already own at S$0.40 apiece. This comes after he spent $25.2 million on 63 million shares to raise his stake to 43.38%.

Mr Goi is the executive chairman of PSC, a consumer goods manufacturer and distributor of popular household brands such as Royal Umbrella rice, Golden Peony rice, Golden Circle oil, Fortune tofu, noodle and dessert, and Beautex paper products

He has been steadily buying shares in the company over the past few years. Dubbed “Popiah King”, he is also the executive chairman of Tee Yih Jia, the world’s largest producer of spring roll pastry, also known as popiah skins.

His offer for PSC represents a premium of 7.8% over the stock’s volume-weighted average price of S$0.371 in the past one-month period, according to a bourse filing by UOB Kay Hian on his behalf.

The latest purchase triggered a rule in the Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers whereby anyone who holds more than 30% but not exceeding 50% of the voting rights of a company is required to make a mandatory general offer for all the shares in the company which the person does not already own.

According to the filing, Mr Goi does not intend to “actively pursue” the delisting of PSC from the mainboard, although he intends to exercise his right to compulsorily acquire all the offer shares not acquired if he hits the 90% threshold after which he would then proceed to delist PSC.

Dutch firm moves to privatise Grand Venture Technology at S$0.94 per share

Dutch company Aalberts Advanced Mechatronics is proposing to acquire all ordinary shares in Grand Venture’s issued and paid-up share capital at S$0.94 per share, which totals some 339.3 million shares worth S$318.9 million.

Shareholders who collectively hold 64.24% of Grand Venture’s total shares have given the offeror irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the scheme.

They include the company’s executive deputy chairman who owns 15.37%, the chief executive officer and chief operating officer who each own 3.55% and NT SPV 12, the subsidiary of a private equity fund, which has 26.68%.

The price is a premium of 11.9% over Grand Venture’s share price of S$0.84 on the company’s last undisturbed trading day on May 30, 2025.

It is also 241.8% above Grand Venture’s initial public offering price of S$0.275 on Jan 23, 2019, and 140.1% over the audited net asset value per share of S$0.3915 as at Dec 31, 2024.

Grand Ventures is a manufacturing solutions and service provider for the semiconductor, analytical life sciences, electronics, aerospace, medical and other industries.