Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened lower on Tuesday as Middle East tension escalated and Wall street tech slump. SIA fell 0.5%, Keppel DC Reit rose 0.6%, DBS rose 0.06%, UOB fell 0.24%, Seatrium rose 1.3%, NIO fell 8.1%.
Stocks to Watch
Singapore Airlines: The national carrier and its low-cost arm Scoot together moved 3.3 million passengers in March, up 20.7 per cent from the previous year. In a bourse filing on Monday, the group said its passenger traffic rose 13.9 per cent year on year to 12.7 billion revenue passenger-kilometres, which refers to the number of passengers carried multiplied by the distance flown. Shares of SIA closed down S$0.12 or 1.9 per cent to S$6.32, before the announcement.
Keppel DC Real Estate Investment Trust: It is divesting a 100 per cent freehold interest in its Sydney data centre at an agreed value of A$174 million (S$152.1 million), representing a 35.4 per cent premium to the asset’s FY2023 valuation of A$128.5 million. A$90 million of the sale proceeds will be re-invested into an Australian data centre note, said the manager on Tuesday. Keppel DC Reit ended Monday S$0.02 or 1.2 per cent lower at S$1.69.
Sabana Industrial Reit: The Reit manager said in a business update on Monday that its portfolio occupancy retreated from 91.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 83 per cent in Q1 of 2024, due to the repossession of 33 and 35 Penjuru Lane, which were previously master-leased. The manager also noted that it has faced high staff attrition amid internalisation uncertainties. Units of Sabana Reit closed flat at S$0.365, before the news.
SG Local News
Lawrence Wong to be Singapore’s fourth prime minister from May 15
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will be sworn in as Singapore’s fourth prime minister on May 15, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced on Monday (Apr 15).
PM Lee Hsien Loong will relinquish the office the same day. Thereafter, he will formally advise the president to appoint Wong to succeed him.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Istana at 8 pm on May 15. PMO said in the statement that Wong has the unanimous support of the People’s Action Party Members of Parliament.
Developers’ sales jump to highest level in 4 months in March amid uptick in launches
Developers in Singapore sold 718 private homes in March, more than quadrupling from 149 units sold in February, based on data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday (Apr 15).
New private home sales, excluding executive condominium units (ECs), also hit their highest level in four months.
On a year-on-year basis, developer sales were up 45.9 per cent from the 492 units sold in March 2023, but were 13.6 per cent lower than the five-year average of 831 units for the month of March, noted JLL head of residential research Chia Siew Chuin.
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