Singapore stocks rose this week, with the STI up 1.4%. The market closed early on Tuesday and closed on Wednesday for Christmas Day.
Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 1.9% in November on a yearly basis, lower than economists' forecasts and the smallest rise in nearly three years, official data showed on Monday.
In terms of star stocks, Seatrium rose 7.3%, NIO rose 3.1%, YZJ Shipbldg rose 2.8%, Keppel rose 2.1%, Genting Singapore rose 2%, DBS rose 1.7% and SIA rose 1.3%. While SingPost fell 7.1%, and Singtel fell 0.6%.
Market News
Singapore's Core Inflation Slows More Than Expected to 1.9% in November
Singapore's core inflation eased more than expected in November, while headline inflation rose at a faster pace than the month prior, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Monday (Dec 23).
November's core inflation, which excludes accommodation and private transport, was 1.9 per cent. This was a nudge lower than the 2.1 per cent in October and the median forecast of 2.1 per cent by private-sector economists polled by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, headline inflation was 1.6 per cent, up from 1.4 per cent in October, but lower than economists’ median forecast of 1.8 per cent.
PM Wong to Deliver 2025 Budget Statement on Feb 18
Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong will deliver Singapore’s Budget 2025 statement in Parliament on Feb 18.
The Budget Statement will be broadcast live on television and radio, and online at www.singaporebudget.gov.sg. It will be published in full on the website after delivery.
This will be PM Wong’s fourth time delivering the annual speech, as well as the first time since becoming prime minister last May. It will also be the last Budget before the next general election, which must take place before November 2025.
Singapore Post Fires CEO over Handling of Whistleblower Report
Singapore Post said on Sunday it had dismissed its chief executive and two other senior managers after an internal investigation found they had mishandled whistleblower allegations about misconduct by company employees.
The firm's shares slumped by the most in over four years as the city-state's bourse opened for trading. The stock plunged as much as 9.8%, its biggest intraday loss since March 2020.
The alleged misconduct reported by the whistleblower related to several employees who worked in the company's international e-commerce logistics parcels business, the company said in a statement, without giving further details.
The firm had received a whistleblowing report alleging that three unnamed employees had either approved or manually updated a "delivery failure" status code for parcels, even though no delivery was done, the statement said.
Seatrium Buys Back More Shares
Seatrium repurchased 1.0 million shares in the open market on Tuesday for SG$2.0 million, or SG$1.9611 apiece, according to a same-day filing with the Singapore Exchange.
The ship repair company has been authorized to buy back 68.2 million shares under its current mandate. To date, it has bought back around 24.0 million shares.
Seatrium also secured a contract to perform engineering, procurement, construction and onshore commissioning work for a deepwater new-build production unit under BP Exploration & Production, a subsidiary of multinational oil and gas company, BP.
OCBC Plans S$7.5 Million Living-Cost Payout to Junior Staff
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd. will give a one-off payment to junior employees globally for the second year in a row to alleviate ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
An estimated S$7.5 million ($5.5 million) will be handed out to some 11,000 employees across OCBC and its subsidiaries, including Bank of Singapore and OCBC Securities, the lender said in a statement Monday.
The number represents about 40% of OCBC Group’s overall headcount in 17 markets. Eligible employees will receive the payout from February to April 2025.
About 4,000 junior employees will receive S$1,000 each in Singapore. They include new entrants to the workforce and unionized employees, OCBC said.
Nio’s Onvo L60 Delivered 20,000 Units Three Months After the Launch
Onvo, a sub-brand of Nio, has seen cumulative deliveries of its first model, the L60, exceed 20,000 units, with its goal of delivering 10,000 units this month basically secured.
Onvo announced today on Chinese social media platform Weibo that cumulative deliveries of the L60 exceeded 20,000 units, about 100 days from launch.
The Nio sub-brand officially launched the L60, an electric SUV (sport utility vehicle) that is a competitor to Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y, on September 19, with deliveries starting on September 28.
Gojek, Tada, ComfortDelGro Zig Raising Platform Fees from Jan 1 to Cover Costs Arising from Upcoming Platform Workers Act
From Jan 1, 2025, the platform fee on ComfortDelGro’s app Zig will be adjusted by S$0.30 to S$0.50, the land transport giant announced on Tuesday (Dec 24).
Therefore, the platform fee for rides booked through the Zig, DBS PayLah! and Kris+ apps will be adjusted to a range of S$1 to S$1.20, depending on the distance travelled and waiting time.
Tommy Tan, chief executive of ComfortDelGro Taxi, said the adjustment of the platform fee will go towards the enhanced protection and welfare initiatives as part of the new Platform Workers Bill.
The Week Ahead
The Singpore stock market will close early on Tuesday and close on Wednesday for New Year's Day.
Singapore will release the advance GDP estimates for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2024 on Thursday.
Singapore will release figures for retail sales on Friday.
