By Amanda Lee and Megan Cheah
SINGAPORE--Singapore stocks have surged this week, pushing the benchmark index to consecutive record highs as investors seek havens from volatility.
After years of stagnation, the city-state's equities market is showing signs of a revival. Analysts credit Singapore's appeal as a safe port in a storm, along with policymakers' efforts to reinvigorate activity.
The FTSE Straits Times Index touched fresh intraday highs at least three times during the week and closed at a record level Thursday. It was last down 0.2% but remains up around 5.9% year to date, making it the best-performing market in Southeast Asia.
Property stocks such as UOL Group and City Developments helped power the week's gains, supported by expectations of U.S. interest-rate cuts and a buzzing local real-estate market.
While developers' shares dropped Friday after the government announced measures to cool housing prices, this is likely a knee-jerk reaction, analysts said.
Hopes for Fed rate cuts should continue to support interest in real estate investment trusts and undervalued property stocks, said Carmen Lee, head of OCBC Investment Research.
Large-cap industrials such as Keppel Ltd. and consumer staples like DFI Retail Group and Wilmar International have also contributed to the benchmark index's gains as investors pivot to defensive sectors and high-dividend stocks, she added.
The S$5 billion program announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier this year to boost the equities market is also buoying sentiment, analysts said.
The package, unveiled in February, included measures to encourage more company listings.
So far this year, two companies and a REIT have applied to list on Singapore's exchange. Japan's NTT Data Group has filed an initial public offering prospectus for its Singapore REIT, which is poised to be the city-state's largest such deal in nearly eight years.
Two companies have listed so far in 2025, including Info-Tech Systems, which made a strong debut Friday, rising as much as 13% from its IPO price.
While uncertainty over U.S. tariffs and their impact on trade-reliant Singapore clouds the broader economic outlook, there may be a silver lining for the stock market.
Singapore's equities market is traditionally seen as a safe-haven during periods of global volatility, and has continued to be resilient, said James Druce, head of research at CLSA Singapore.
The country is also facing lower tariffs from the Trump administration than many of its regional peers, making it relatively more appealing to investors, said Thilan Wickramasinghe, head of research at Maybank Securities.
"With U.S. policy uncertainty at unprecedented levels, Singapore is benefiting from offering the opposite--policy certainty," he said.
Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com and Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 04, 2025 04:58 ET (08:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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