SG Morning Call | Singapore Stocks Open Lower on Monday; OCBC Drops 0.9%, NIO Gains 2%

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened lower on Monday. STI fell 0.4%; SIA rose 0.3%; OCBC fell 0.9%; Singtel fell 0.6%; Seatrium fell 1.3%; Nio rose 2%, SGX rose 0.7%.

Stocks to Watch

$SGX(S68.SI)$: The bourse’s total securities market turnover in August rose 22 per cent on the year to S$28.8 billion, while securities daily average value climbed 28 per cent on the year to S$1.4 billion. This comes as retail investors’ net purchases hit a new high of S$685 million, adding positions in index stocks as well as small and mid-caps. Shares of SGX closed 0.7 per cent or S$0.08 lower at S$10.87 on Friday.

$Cordlife(P8A.SI)$: The embattled cord-blood bank on Friday said it has accepted a notice from the Ministry of Health regarding changes to its cord-blood banking service licence, in a bid to resume its cord-blood banking service. It will not collect, test, process and/or store more than 30 units per month of new cord blood from infant donors from Sep 15 to Jan 13, 2025, unless sooner approved by the director-general of health. The counter closed 3.7 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.14, before the announcement.

$DigiCore Reit USD(DCRU.SI)$: The real estate investment trust (Reit) on Monday said it plans to acquire a further interest of between 0.2 and 40 per cent in a Frankfurt data centre, from a German joint venture which owns the facility. Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, the Reit is expected to own between 50.1 and 89.9 per cent interest in the data centre. Units of Digital Core Reit ended Friday flat at US$0.59.

$Don Agro(GRQ.SI)$: Don Agro International requested a trading halt on Monday morning pending the release of an announcement. Shares of the Russia-based agricultural company closed on Friday 7.7 per cent or S$0.015 higher at S$0.21.

SG Local News

S-Reits Continue Positive Momentum in August with a Second Consecutive Month of Gains

For the second month in a row, the iEdge S-Reit Index has posted positive gains, achieving a 6.7 per cent total return in August. This follows a 5.5 per cent total return in July, culminating in a 12.6 per cent increase in the first two months of H2 2024, and reversing the 11.4 per cent decline in total return in H1 2024.

This shift in sentiment has been driven by the growing certainty of a rate reduction at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Sep 18, indicating a further easing of global financial conditions. In August, the real estate investment trust (Reit) sector had a net institutional inflow exceeding S$90 million, continuing a trend of positive net inflows for the second consecutive month following July’s S$15 million. During the first half of 2024, net institutional flows were predominantly outflows.

The 10 trusts in the iEdge S-Reit Index with the highest total returns have averaged 11.4 per cent, surpassing the index’s overall total return of 6.7 per cent. Five out of the 10 trusts are predominantly invested in overseas property assets, including two US office Reits – Keppel Pacific Oak US Reit and Manulife US Reit, with total returns of 26.9 per cent and 19.3 per cent respectively.

Singapore Will Have Largest Share of Passenger EVs in S-E Asia by 2040: Report

Singapore is forecast to have the largest share of passenger electric vehicles (EVs) in South-east Asia by 2040, according to a report from Bloomberg’s energy research service BloombergNEF.  

A total of 80 per cent of all passenger vehicles here are expected to be electric by that year, compared with a regional average of 24 per cent, the report said.

Thailand, in second place, is forecast to have a 41 per cent share, followed by Vietnam (31 per cent), Indonesia (25 per cent), Malaysia (15 per cent) and the Philippines (10 per cent).

Singapore to Begin Building Changi’s T5 Mega Airport Terminal in 2025

Singapore will start construction of a new mega terminal at Changi Airport in the first half of next year, aiming to lift the aviation hub’s annual passenger handling capacity by more than half, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said.

The new Terminal 5 would add capacity for another 50 million passengers a year when operational in the mid-2030s, up from 90 million, and would allow the aviation hub serve more than 200 destinations, from almost 150 now.

Changi Airport is the busiest in Southeast Asia, handling almost 60 million passengers last year as international travel bounced back from Covid. In the first half of this year, passenger traffic at Changi returned to almost 100% of pre-pandemic levels, Wong said.

Singapore’s Oil Party Spoiled by Falling Prices and China Gloom

The oil party isn’t over yet — but for top merchants and executives gathering for talks and rooftop cocktails in Singapore, the exuberance that came with the outsized profits of recent years is quickly fading.

China’s economic slowdown, structural shifts in the global energy mix and the prospect of additional crude supply are all weighing on refiners and producers. Processing margins have tumbled. Traders will be no less glum, as the turbulence of the pandemic and of the months that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — once-in-a-generation events — have been replaced by low volatility.

The thousands of oil executives, hedge funds and investors gathering for the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) will be facing up to the grim reality that is already forcing Wall Street analysts to revise down price and demand forecasts. In recent weeks, global oil prices have erased all gains for this year. OPEC and allied nations have found themselves compelled to postpone a supply hike that could have tipped the market into surplus.