Middle East ceasefire helped bring some calm to markets

Date: April 13, 2026

• The STI regained the 5,000 level in Wed intraday trading after news of US-Iran ceasefire
• Uncertainty continued to reign as Hormuz remained closed
• Nasdaq exited correction territory, Wall St had best week in 2026
• Cryptocurrencies bounced up after announcement of Iran ceasefire
• Sheng Siong, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and CICT among winners of Singapore’s S$1 billion energy support package: RHB
• IX Biopharma jumped 65% on Friday in heavy volume
• SGX’s March total securities turnover up 78%
• SIC to take no further action against Popiah King Sam Goi on breach of takeover code

The STI rebounded 0.8% for the week, briefly crossed 5,000

A ceasefire between the US and Iran announced on Tuesday enabled stocks to recover some lost ground last week, with the Straits Times Index briefly regaining the 5,000 level in intraday trading on Wednesday.

However, the respite didn’t last long, given reports of continued fighting in the Middle East and news that the Straits of Hormuz remained closed.

As a result, the STI faltered on Thursday before rebounding again on Friday, eventually recording a net rise of about 42 points or 0.8% for the week at 4,989.41.

On Tuesday, US and Iran agreed to a 2-week ceasefire

Oil plunged below US$100 a barrel on Tuesday after Iran agreed to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of a two-week ceasefire agreement with the US and Israel.

Safe passage through the strait will be possible via coordination with Iran’s armed forces and with “due consideration of technical limitations”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.

US President Donald Trump said earlier that the ceasefire would be subject to Iran reopening the waterway, and will allow an agreement “to be finalised and consummated”.

Israel agreed to suspend bombing the Islamic Republic while talks are ongoing, according to CNN, while Axios reported the first round of talks between the US and Iran will be held in Islamabad on Friday.

However, once Hormuz transit picks up, the return of energy supplies will not be instant. Output has been reduced at oil and gas fields, while refineries have curtailed production or shut down. Some of those will take weeks – or possibly longer – to return to normal.

Brent futures slipped around 13.5% in the past five days to settle around US$94.30 on Friday, while WTI Crude declined around 14.3% this week to about US$95.50 per barrel. From a month ago, Brent has also dropped 0.2%, while WTI Crude is still 5.5% higher.

Uncertainty reigned as Hormuz remained closed

The Strait of Hormuz was still a no-go zone for most ships as of Friday with reports suggesting only two vessels made it through the waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world.

Ship owners and trade organizations said they are not ready to transit the area without more assurances that their crews will be safe.

Maersk, the largest publicly traded shipping company, said the cease-fire “does not yet provide full maritime certainty and we need to understand all potential conditions attached.”

On Wednesday Iran said it would reimpose a blockade in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, according to an Iranian state news agency.

Bloomberg quoted Carl Larry, an oil and gas analyst at Enverus as saying there’s still a long way to go. “Every day remains an adventure, but US$90 looks like a solid floor until we see fiction become fact’’ he said.

Nasdaq exited correction territory, Wall St had best week in 2026

The Nasdaq exited correction territory on Friday to wrap the best week of the year for the stock market.

The tech-heavy index rose 0.4% to extend its winning streak to eight sessions. The S&P 500 dipped 0.1% and snapped a seven-session winning streak. The Dow fell 269 points, or 0.6%.

All three marked their best weeks of 2026.

The Nasdaq rallied 10% from a recent low to mark its exit from correction territory after 11 trading days. That’s the quickest correction for the index since October 2011, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 3.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 4.7%, and the blue-chip Dow added 3.0%.

Cryptocurrencies bounced up after announcement of Iran ceasefire

On Wednesday, Bitcoin surged 4.8% to approximately US$71,825, marking its highest price point since mid-March.

Other major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin also posted gains ranging from 4.4% to 7%.

Cryptocurrencies have generally traded as high-volatility risk assets in recent months and have dropped amid fighting in the Middle East. Bitcoin is down sharply from its record high of above US$126,000 back in October last year.

Sheng Siong, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and CICT among winners of Singapore’s S$1 billion energy support package: RHB

Investors should shift towards companies with strong pricing power and direct policy linkage as Singapore navigates an energy-driven “cash-flow cushion”, RHB said in a strategy report on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Singapore announced a S$1b support package in response to the Middle East energy shock.

“The policy architecture is not a demand stimulus but instead a targeted cash-flow cushion designed to preserve household purchasing power for essentials,” RHB said.

RHB analyst Shekhar Jaiswal said: “The clear winners are heartland consumption, suburban retail real estate investment trusts and domestic land transport, while aviation faces headwinds and cost pressure.”

The brokerage identified Sheng Siong, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust as clear winners of the package.

“The most direct equity beneficiaries of the government package are concentrated in consumer staples and suburban heartland retail,” Jaiswal said.

IX Biopharma jumped 65% on Friday in heavy volume

On Friday, shares of Catalist’s IX Biopharma surged S$0.13 or 65% to S$0.33 with 130.6m traded after Phillip Securities’ Head of Research, Paul Chew re-initiated coverage on the company with a “buy” call and S$1 price target.

In his April 10 report, he sees the recent US$40.95 million Phase 3 clinical trial funding and orders from the US Department of Defense (DoD) as a major endorsement and major external validation of the WaferiX sublingual technology.

The funding removes capital overhang, enabling iX Biopharma to retain full control over Wafermine (for pain) and reduce Phase 3 execution risks.

SGX’s March total securities turnover up 78%

The Singapore Exchange’s (SGX’s) total securities market turnover value rose 78% year on year to S$52.8 billion in March, a company report indicated on Thursday.

Securities daily average value grew 62% on the year to S$2.4 billion, while derivatives-traded volume hit a record high after surging 40% year on year to 38.3 million contracts.

SIC to take no further action against Popiah King Sam Goi on breach of takeover code

The Securities Industry Council (SIC) will take no further action against PSC Corporation’s executive chairman Sam Goi for his 2023 breach of a rule in the Singapore code on takeovers and mergers, it said on Tuesday.

Rule 14.1(a) states that when a person acquires shares which – taken together with shares held or acquired by a person acting in concert with them – carry 30% or more of the voting rights of a company, the person (or persons) must immediately extend offers to other shareholders.

PSC Corp carried out share buybacks between May and October 2023, having obtained a mandate for this from its shareholders at its annual general meeting on Apr 28, 2023. The mandate was valid until Apr 25, 2024.

The move increased Goi’s shareholding from 29.97 to 30.22%. Under the share buyback exemption, directors and persons acting in concert with them are not to acquire shares from the point when the announcement of the buy-back proposal is imminent.

They are also not to do so before:

• The share buyback mandate expires, or
• The date on which the company announces it has bought back such number of shares as authorised by shareholders at the latest general meeting, or if it has decided to cease buying back its shares.

However, on Dec 4, 2023, Goi bought shares that increased his shareholding to 30.23% although the share buyback mandate had not expired, and the company had not announced that it had completed or ceased its buybacks.

With the 30.23% shareholding, Goi breached the share buyback exemption conditions. Since he did not make a general offer for the company, he broke Rule 14.1(a).

Goi said that he had misunderstood the restrictions regarding the share buyback exemption and did not know that his share purchases on Dec 4, 2023 would breach the rules.

However, in consultation with SIC, he announced a mandatory offer on Jul 10, 2025, which turned unconditional on Aug 7, 2025. This move would have given shareholders the opportunity to accept the offer for shares they held on Dec 4, 2023.

Goi also offered to pay the difference between the offer and sale price, and used the higher offer price of S$0.40 a share than the purchase price of S$0.36 a share.

SIC said it “considered (Goi’s) submissions that he had misunderstood the relevant Code provisions, and that there was no deliberate attempt to contravene the Code”.