Weekly Market Report: Bank Results and a Two-Stock Surge Lift the STI to 5,698
Market overview and STI ETF performance
The Straits Times Index closed the trading week at 5,698.00, up 59.00 points or 1.05 per cent on the final day from a previous close of 5,639.00, and up 1.53 per cent over the five sessions from 5,612.00 at the start of the period, according to the data. The close leaves the benchmark 15 points below its 52-week high of 5,713.00, against a 52-week range that stretches from 4,182.00 to 5,713.00. The advance was not a broad one. The data records 11 advancing stocks, 18 declining stocks and one unchanged on the last day, with an average change across the index of just +0.17 per cent. The weekly gain rested on a cluster of heavyweights — the banking trio, Singapore Exchange, Venture Corporation and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding — while 60 per cent of the index's constituents ended the final session lower.
The SPDR STI ETF, which tracks the benchmark, closed at S$5.79 against a previous close of S$5.751, within a 52-week range of S$4.23 to S$5.815, the data shows. The week unfolded against a choppy regional backdrop. The Business Times reported that Singapore shares fell on Wednesday, with the STI down 0.6 per cent as local banks ended lower. [1] Thursday brought a rebound of more than 1 per cent despite mixed regional markets over uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran peace dialogue, Yahoo Finance reported. [2] Even on that up day, The Business Times noted, gainers across the broader market trailed losers 239 to 338, with 896.7 million securities worth S$2.1 billion changing hands. [3] Friday opened higher as investors focused on local heavyweight earnings, with the index opening 0.27 per cent up at 5,654.12 before closing at 5,698.00, Yahoo Finance reported. [4]
Sector-by-sector analysis
The financial services sector grouping — four stocks — rose an average of 1.28 per cent on the final day, but the real story of the week was earnings season. DBS Group Holdings closed at S$76.33, up 1.66 per cent on the day and 2.53 per cent over the week, at its 52-week high of S$76.33. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 3.31 per cent to S$30.30 — the data records its 52-week high at S$30.50 — and gained 4.95 per cent over the week. United Overseas Bank closed at S$43.30, within 5 per cent of its S$45.15 high. The trio dominated turnover, with DBS at S$518.0 million, OCBC at S$364.5 million and UOB at S$283.3 million, the three highest value-traded stocks on the final day.
The results behind the moves were widely reported. Channel NewsAsia said OCBC and UOB posted higher second-quarter profit on stronger fee income, with OCBC's net interest margin easing to 1.70 per cent from 1.92 per cent a year earlier and UOB's to 1.74 per cent from 1.91 per cent; DBS, which reported on Thursday, saw its margin decline to 1.87 per cent from 2.05 per cent. [5] The Edge reported that the lenders are riding a wealth management boom that helped second-quarter profit beat expectations and pushed their share prices to record levels. [6] Reuters noted the Singapore banks joined Asia-focused rivals HSBC and Standard Chartered in reporting robust growth in wealth management fee income, as inflows into safe-haven financial hubs such as Singapore continued amid geopolitical uncertainty. [7] The Business Times reported that OCBC scaled a new peak on the results while UOB pared early losses, and that UOB's second-quarter net profit rose 10 per cent to S$1.48 billion. [8]
Singapore Exchange added to the financial sector's strength. The counter closed at S$24.51, within 5 per cent of its S$25.11 high, after reporting record full-year results on Thursday. The Business Times reported all-time highs in revenue and net profit for FY2026, with the stock rising 1.3 per cent to S$24.32 at Thursday's close. [9] Chief executive Loh Boon Chye called FY2026 another "standout year", with growth broad-based across cash equities, foreign exchange and commodities, Yahoo Finance reported. [10] The Straits Times said adjusted net profit rose nearly 25 per cent and net revenue jumped 13.9 per cent for the financial year ended June 30, with 21 new listings raising S$4.1 billion — up from six listings raising S$25.7 million a year earlier. [11] The exchange also said it has an IPO pipeline of around 50 companies at various stages of readiness. [12]
Real estate was the clear laggard. The sector grouping, which contains 12 stocks, fell an average of 0.80 per cent on the final day, and three of the day's five steepest decliners were property names: CapitaLand Investment at S$2.69, down 2.18 per cent; Mapletree Logistics Trust at S$1.20, down 1.64 per cent; and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust at S$0.97, down 1.02 per cent. Several REITs sit within 5 per cent of their 52-week lows: CapitaLand Ascendas REIT at S$2.51 against a low of S$2.42, Frasers Centrepoint Trust at S$2.21 (low S$2.17), Keppel DC REIT at S$2.20 (low S$2.15), Mapletree Industrial Trust at S$1.92 (low S$1.90) and Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust at S$1.28 (low S$1.22). The weakness was not universal — CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust closed at S$2.46, within 5 per cent of its S$2.57 high.
The price softness ran alongside a relatively steady stream of operational headlines. CapitaLand Ascendas REIT posted a 0.1 per cent rise in first-half distribution per unit to S$0.07482, The Business Times reported. [13] The Business Times also reported that Singapore office REITs delivered a robust first half on strong occupancy and higher rents. [14] Singapore Business Review, citing CBRE research, reported that Singapore topped Asia-Pacific property investment performance in the first half of 2026. [15] The sector nonetheless accounts for the index's highest dividend yields: Mapletree Industrial Trust at 6.56 per cent, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT at 6.21 per cent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust at 6.17 per cent and Mapletree Logistics Trust at 6.08 per cent, according to the data.
The industrials grouping, six stocks, rose an average of 1.10 per cent on the final day, while the single-stock technology grouping recorded the strongest sector average of the day at +6.05 per cent. That figure reflects Venture Corporation, which closed at S$17.19 after rising 6.05 per cent on the day and 7.37 per cent over the week from S$16.01 — the largest weekly gain of any index constituent. The catalyst was results. The Business Times reported Venture's second-quarter net profit rose 10.3 per cent to S$63 million and that it increased its interim dividend, with first-half earnings up 5.6 per cent to S$119.3 million. [16] The Edge reported the interim dividend was raised to 30 cents. [17] The rally contrasted with a difficult stretch for some smaller Singapore technology names the prior week: Yahoo Finance reported that SGX-listed suppliers to Applied Materials — Frencken Group and UMS Integration — fell 8.9 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively at the end of July, while AEM Holdings dropped 8.5 per cent and CSE Global shed 4.9 per cent. [18] Also within the industrials grouping, SATS closed at S$4.82, within 5 per cent of its S$4.96 high, and Singapore Airlines, despite a 1.30 per cent decline on the final day to S$7.60, remained within 5 per cent of its S$7.92 high.
The remaining sector groupings were quieter. The utilities grouping (one stock) edged up 0.18 per cent, and the energy grouping (one stock) slipped 0.47 per cent. Consumer defensive stocks (three) fell 0.40 per cent on average, with Thai Beverage up 1.09 per cent to S$0.47 on the final day while DFI Retail fell 1.79 per cent to S$3.84. The consumer cyclical grouping (one stock) fell 0.80 per cent and the communication services grouping (one stock) fell 0.92 per cent.
Top gainers and losers analysis with reasons
The final day's top five gainers were Yangzijiang Shipbuilding at S$4.20 (+6.60 per cent), Venture Corporation at S$17.19 (+6.05 per cent), OCBC at S$30.30 (+3.31 per cent), DBS at S$76.33 (+1.66 per cent) and Thai Beverage at S$0.47 (+1.09 per cent). Venture and OCBC had both released results during the week, giving the market fresh numbers to absorb. Yangzijiang, the day's biggest percentage gainer, drew the strongest relative volume in the index at 3.1 times its average; The Business Times' stocks-to-watch list for Friday included Yangzijiang alongside UOB, OCBC, StarHub, SGX and Venture. [19] The data shows Yangzijiang on a price-to-earnings multiple of 10.0 times, with revenue growth of 36.2 per cent.
The day's five steepest falls were CapitaLand Investment (S$2.69, -2.18 per cent), DFI Retail (S$3.84, -1.79 per cent), Mapletree Logistics Trust (S$1.20, -1.64 per cent), Singapore Airlines (S$7.60, -1.30 per cent) and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (S$0.97, -1.02 per cent). Three of the five were real estate names, underlining the week's relative weakness in property. Over the full week, the steepest losers were Seatrium, down 4.04 per cent from S$2.23 to S$2.14; Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, down 3.03 per cent; Mapletree Logistics Trust, down 2.44 per cent; Genting Singapore, down 2.36 per cent; and Singapore Telecommunications, down 2.27 per cent to S$4.30. Singtel's decline came even as it posted the fifth-highest turnover on the final day at S$127.7 million, the data shows.
Volume and momentum analysis
Turnover on the final day was heavily concentrated in banks and two industrial movers. DBS traded S$518.0 million in value, OCBC S$364.5 million, UOB S$283.3 million, Yangzijiang S$223.4 million and Singtel S$127.7 million, the data shows. On relative volume, Yangzijiang led at 3.1 times its average, ahead of Venture at 2.8 times, UOB at 1.9 times, Frasers Centrepoint Trust at 1.8 times and OCBC at 1.8 times. The spikes in UOB and OCBC coincided with their earnings releases, while Frasers Centrepoint Trust's elevated volume arrived on a down day for REITs, with the stock closing at S$2.21, within 5 per cent of its S$2.17 low. The data also flags Singapore Technologies Engineering as trading at S$10.32, below its 50-day moving average of S$10.69 but above its 200-day moving average; the stock still rose 1.57 per cent over the week, placing it among the top five weekly gainers. Momentum, in short, was narrow: the index's weekly rise depended on banks and two high-volume movers, while the final-day breadth — 11 advancers against 18 decliners — showed most constituents ending the week lower.
Impact of macroeconomic or geopolitical factors
Geopolitics supplied the backdrop rather than the direction this week. Yahoo Finance reported that the US-Iran peace dialogue kept regional markets mixed even as Singapore shares surged more than 1 per cent on Thursday. [2] On the trade front, the numbers facing Singapore are now more concrete. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong told Parliament that the new US tariffs, imposed under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, affect about S$9.5 billion of Singapore's domestic exports, The Business Times reported. [20] Reuters reported that the tariffs affect about a third of Singapore's exports to the US, including optical instruments and chemical products, while energy, energy products, certain electronics and aerospace are exempt. [21] Channel NewsAsia reported that Singapore will weigh the wider trade-offs before seeking a lower US tariff, because arrangements the US has concluded with other economies may involve commitments beyond import prohibitions, such as export controls. [22] None of this derailed the STI's advance; as Yahoo Finance put it on Friday, investors were moving past the crisis in the Middle East and focusing on earnings. [4]
What the data shows about stability and volatility
The data includes measured characteristics that illustrate how differently the 30 constituents have behaved. Beta, a statistical measure of how much a stock's price has historically moved relative to the broader market, is one of them; a reading below 1 indicates the stock has tended to move less than the market. The banks and several large caps record low betas: DBS at 0.29 with a market capitalisation of S$217.1 billion, OCBC at 0.20 (S$136.0 billion), UOB at 0.38 (S$71.5 billion), Singapore Telecommunications at 0.25 (S$70.4 billion), Singapore Technologies Engineering at 0.15 (S$32.2 billion) and Wilmar International at 0.11 (S$24.6 billion). At the other end, Keppel DC REIT shows the highest beta in the data at 0.84, with revenue growth of 14.6 per cent; its shares closed at S$2.20, within 5 per cent of their S$2.15 low.
The data also records wide dispersion in revenue growth and valuations. Among the revenue growth figures it shows: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding at 36.2 per cent, Keppel Ltd at 24.6 per cent, Frasers Centrepoint Trust at 21.9 per cent, Singapore Exchange at 19.6 per cent and Genting Singapore at 5.4 per cent. The lowest price-to-earnings multiples in the index are Hongkong Land Holdings at 7.5 times, Yangzijiang at 10.0 times, Sembcorp Industries at 10.2 times, City Developments at 11.4 times and Keppel DC REIT at 11.6 times. The five highest dividend yields are Mapletree Industrial Trust at 6.56 per cent, Genting Singapore at 6.45 per cent, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT at 6.21 per cent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust at 6.17 per cent and Mapletree Logistics Trust at 6.08 per cent. Read together, the figures show an index whose earnings momentum is currently concentrated in financial services and a narrow set of non-financial names, while the property trusts — the highest-yielding segment of the market — trade near their 52-week lows.
What to watch in the coming week
The calendar centres on the tail of the earnings season. Sembcorp Industries is scheduled to report on 13 August, according to a Yahoo Finance article published on 5 August. [23] The same reporting season continues to deliver operational data across the index, and The Business Times has reported that higher palm oil prices have lifted the outlook for SGX-listed planters ahead of their second-quarter results — a theme that bears on Wilmar International, which closed at S$3.94, within 5 per cent of its S$4.02 high. [24] On the policy front, Singapore's assessment of the US tariff arrangements — and whether to seek a lower rate given the wider commitments involved — remains an open item, as flagged by Channel NewsAsia. [22] The US-Iran peace dialogue, which kept regional markets on edge in the middle of the week, also continues to develop. [2] SGX's disclosure of an IPO pipeline of around 50 companies at various stages of readiness gives market watchers a gauge of the listing momentum the exchange aims to sustain. [12] And the daily data in the coming sessions will show whether Friday's narrow breadth — 18 decliners against 11 advancers — widens as more companies report.
References
[1] The Business Times; Singapore shares fall as local banks end lower; STI down 0.6%; 05 Aug 2026
[2] Yahoo Finance Singapore; Singapore Shares Gain More Than 1% Despite Regional Jitters; 06 Aug 2026
[3] The Business Times; Singapore stocks rise on blue-chip gains; STI up 1%; 06 Aug 2026
[4] Yahoo Finance Singapore; Singapore Shares Open Higher as Investors Focus on Earnings; 07 Aug 2026
[5] CNA; OCBC, UOB post higher Q2 profit on stronger fee income; 07 Aug 2026
[6] The Edge Singapore; Wealth boom propels Singapore bank stocks to all-time highs; 07 Aug 2026
[7] Reuters; Singapore's OCBC, UOB beat forecasts as wealth income...
[8] The Business Times; OCBC shares scale new peak on strong Q2 earnings; UOB pares morning losses; 07 Aug 2026
[9] The Business Times; SGX records all-time highs in revenue, net profit for FY2026; 06 Aug 2026
[10] Yahoo Finance Singapore; SGX reports 'standout' FY2026; bumper dividend brings full-year payout to 57 cents; 06 Aug 2026
[11] The Straits Times; SGX reports 'exceptional' year for stock market as revival...; 06 Aug 2026
[12] The Business Times; SGX IPO pipeline of 50 companies amid record results; 06 Aug 2026
[13] The Business Times; CapitaLand Ascendas Reit posts 0.1% rise in H1 DPU to S$0.07482; 05 Aug 2026
[14] The Business Times; Singapore office Reits deliver robust H1 performance on strong occupancy and higher rents; 02 Aug 2026
[15] Singapore Business Review; Singapore tops APAC property investment performance in H1 2026; 07 Aug 2026
[16] The Business Times; Venture Q2 net profit up 10.3% at S$63 million, increases interim dividend; 06 Aug 2026
[17] The Edge Singapore; Venture Corporation reports 5.6% y-o-y rise in earnings for 1HFY2026, raises interim dividend to 30 cents; 06 Aug 2026
[18] Yahoo Finance Singapore; Top Stock Market Highlights of the Week: Singapore Tech Stocks, SK Group and NVIDIA, Singapore's Support Package and SGX; 31 Jul 2026
[19] The Business Times; Stocks to watch: UOB, OCBC, StarHub, SGX, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Venture, JustCo; 07 Aug 2026
[20] The Business Times; US tariff affects S$9.5 billion of Singapore's domestic exports: Gan Kim Yong; 05 Aug 2026
[21] Reuters; Singapore says exports worth $7.4 billion affected by new...
[22] CNA; Singapore to weigh wider trade-offs before seeking lower US tariff: Gan Kim Yong; 05 Aug 2026
[23] Yahoo Finance Singapore; Buy, Hold, or Sell? 3 Blue-Chip Stocks that Trailed...; 05 Aug 2026
[24] The Business Times; Higher palm oil prices lift outlook for SGX-listed planters ahead Q2 results; 03 Aug 2026
Disclaimer
Not financial advice. The author is not licensed to provide investment advice in Singapore. This is general commentary and personal opinion based on publicly available information, and does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Figures are compiled from public sources and may be incomplete, delayed or wrong — verify against the company's own filings and SGX before relying on anything here. The author may hold positions in the securities mentioned. Do your own research, and consider speaking to a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decision.
