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

Date: July 21, 2025

• The STI has now risen 10 days in a row, DBS at all-time high
• US inflation is creeping up due to tariffs
• S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose to new highs
• CDL shares surge over 6% after Philip Yeo exits board
• China Medical System shares surge 11% with its secondary listing on SGX
• Thanks to tariff-related front-loading, June’s exports jump 13%
• Lum Chang Creations’ public offer of 1 million shares 47.3 times oversubscribed

 

Five consecutive all-time highs for the STI, DBS at record high of S$46.99

The Straits Times Index rose to five successive all-time highs last week, gaining 102 points or 2.5% to close the week at 4,189.50. It had also risen on every day of the week before, which means that the index has now gained for ten consecutive trading days.

Banks led the way, spearheaded by DBS, which rose S$1 or 2.2% to an all-time high of S$46.99. This was followed by OCBC’s S$0.44 or 2.6% rise to S$17.33 over the five days, and then UOB, which added S$0.14 or 0.4% at S$37.

With a market capitalization of S$132.7b, DBS is the biggest STI constituent. For the year so far, the stock has gained 7.5%. DBS will report its first half results on 7 Aug.

OCBC and UOB have risen 3.8% and 1.8% for the year to date.

How Wall St performed – new records for S&P 500 and Nasdaq

U.S. stocks saw a largely positive week, with the benchmark S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notching more record highs. A solid start to the second quarter earnings season and favorable economic data helped buoy sentiment and offset concerns about tariffs and Federal Reserve independence.

The independence of the central bank was another key theme this week, after a media report that Trump was likely to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell soon. Trump later told reporters that it was “highly unlikely” he would remove Powell.

On the tariffs front, Trump last weekend said goods imported from the European Union and Mexico would be subject to a 30% tariff from August 1. On Friday, Trump again took aim at the EU, reportedly pushing for a 15% to 20% minimum tariff.

For the week, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained +1.5%. The blue-chip Dow slipped 0.1%.

US inflation is creeping up due to tariffs

The consumer price index was largely in line with estimates, but still jumped to 2.7% in June from 2.4% year over year in May. Core inflation, which removes the more volatile cost of food and energy, also inched up a tenth of a percentage point to 2.9%.

Meanwhile, wholesale inflation as measured by the producer price index released Wednesday, was unchanged in June from May. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was also flat compared with May.

The recent upticks are by no means as dramatic as in early 2021, when inflation jumped roughly a full percentage point each month from February to May. But it cannot be ignored that the effects of President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs are starting to show up, both in the overall cost of goods and in core goods, which exclude food and energy.

“We are seeing initial effects of tariff increases on core goods prices,” New York Fed President John Williams said Wednesday night.

CDL shares surge over 6% after Philip Yeo exits board

Shares of City Development Limited (CDL) closed S$0.35 or 6.3%  higher at S$5.92 on Wednesday on volume of 9.6m after the property conglomerate said on Tuesday evening that director Philip Yeo will be retiring.

Yeo had served on CDL’s board for 16 years since May 2009, and will retire from his position as a non-independent non-executive director on Jul 31. He had backed executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng in his boardroom battle against his son, chief executive officer Sherman Kwek, earlier this year.

The departure of Yeo comes three months after CDL’s annual general meeting (AGM), when he vocally rallied shareholders against “bullying” by majority directors.

He had openly urged shareholders at the AGM to reject the re-election of four directors, comprising two new appointees Jennifer Young and Wong Su Yen, and two independents Daniel Desbaillets and Wong Ai Ai.

The Straits Times quoted Professor Lawrence Loh, director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS Business School: “While Mr Yeo’s exit from the board seems to have triggered the share price surge, this is probably the tip of the iceberg’’.

“The ongoing consolidation of the board membership, including re-appointments and new appointments, will give CEO Sherman Kwek a stronger hand in enhancing shareholder value.”

RHB Singapore vice-president of equity research Vijay Natarajan was quoted saying: “The latest developments are pointing to Sherman Kwek gaining greater control of the board and setting the future direction of the group, which is likely to have come as a relief to a market that is seeing the current situation as more of a compromise and stalemate.”

He added that a clear-cut resolution of the board issues and comprehensive steps to address any future recurrence, along with a well-articulated long-term strategy, could also unlock CDL’s share price, which has been “trading at a deep discount to the revalued net asset value”.

China Medical System shares surge 11% with its secondary listing on SGX

Shares of China Medical System (CMS) rose 11.2% to S$2.28 on volume of 150,000 on its secondary listing debut on SGX on Tuesday.

This marks the 40th listing in the healthcare sector on SGX, with CMS’ market capitalisation reaching HK$28.64 billion (S$4.67 billion) as at Tuesday.

In an earlier statement on Jun 24, CMS said that the secondary listing will not involve the issuance of new shares, and the shares will continue to be primarily listed and traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange thereafter.

CMS is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on sales and marketing in China. The company has capabilities across the full lifecycle of drug development, from identifying clinical needs to research and development (R&D) regulatory approval, and commercialisation.

Thanks to tariff-related front-loading, June’s exports jump 13%

Singapore’s key exports enjoyed a surprisingly strong rebound in June, reversing their fall in May, as businesses likely front-loaded orders ahead of threatened US tariff increases.

Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) expanded 13% in June from a year ago, after a revised 3.9% decline in the previous month, beating the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters, who forecast a rise of 5%. For the first six months of 2025, exports rose 5.2%.

Despite June’s outperformance, analysts said the trade outlook remains murky, depending on eventual tariff rates that Singapore and its trading partners will face from the US.

Analysts said the June rebound is likely due to continued front-loading of orders to beat Mr Trump’s initial July 9 deadline for his reprieve on higher reciprocal tariffs.

“Global electronics demand is rising strongly on broadening artificial intelligence demand and exemptions from reciprocal tariffs, benefiting Singapore’s exports of semiconductors, specialised machinery and other electronic components,” said Maybank analysts Chua Hak Bin and Brian Lee.

But this front-loading can also result in “payback” in the second half of 2025 through decelerating trade and manufacturing production, noted DBS Bank senior economist Chua Han Teng.

Lum Chang Creations’ public offer of 1 million shares 47.3 times oversubscribed

The local market’s lates initial public offer, Lum Chang Creations, announced last week that the one million shares offered to the public was 47.3 times oversubscribed.

By the close of the public offer at noon on Thursday, the urban revitalisation specialist had received 599 valid applications for the offer shares with S$11.8m received.

RHT Capital is the sponsor and issue manager, and CGS International Securities Singapore is the underwriter and placement agent.

LCC had offered 49 million shares at S$0.25 each, including 48 million offered under the placement tranche. These were managed by CGS International Securities Singapore, and were fully subscribed with application monies received totalling S$12 million, LCC said.

Based on valid applications for all 49 million invitation shares, the overall IPO was about two times subscribed. Trading on Catalist will start on Monday.