SG Morning Call | Singapore Interest Rates Could Bottom Out in Second Quarter of 2026: UOB

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Thursday. STI rose 0.1%; Golden Agri-Res up 2%; SingPost, Singtel up 1%.

Stocks in Focus

$Frasers Cpt Tr(J69U.SI)$: The trust’s manager announced its entry into a S$400 million green loan facility. It involves a green term loan and revolving credit facilities, in an agreement between the trust and lenders DBS, OCBC and Maybank. The manager said around US$2.68 billion in facilities would be affected if mandatory prepayment were to occur. Units of FCT closed S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent lower at S$2.27, before the announcement.

$CapitaLandInvest(9CI.SI)$: The asset manager on Thursday announced that capital partner CapitaLand Southeast Asia Logistics Fund has bought a 5.1 hectare site in the Republic to develop an automated logistics facility dubbed Omega 1 Singapore for an estimated total development cost of S$260 million. The five-storey facility is set to be completed in 2028 and will have a gross floor area of 71,000 square metres. CLI has also become a minority investor in smart logistics infrastructure company Ally Logistic Property, which will lease Omega 1 under a long-term master lease with built-in rent escalation. Shares of CLI rose 0.7 per cent to close S$0.02 higher at S$2.78 on Wednesday.

$OUEREIT(TS0U.SI)$: The Reit is said to be in “exclusive talks” with Mitsubishi Estate Asia with regards to a potential acquisition of a partial stake in Salesforce Tower in Sydney. The manager of the trust indicated on Thursday that negotiations between the parties are still ongoing, and parties have yet to enter into any binding agreement for the acquisition. The Thursday statement added that there is no certainty that any transaction will materialise at this juncture. The counter closed flat on Wednesday at S$0.36.

$TCIL HK$(T15.SI)$: The automotive group on Wednesday said in a bourse filing that it expects to record an unaudited gain of HK$327 million (S$53.8 million) on its investments designated at fair value via other comprehensive income for the year ended Dec 31, 2025. The gain is mainly from share price changes of its listed investments, amounting to marked-to-market values of HK$280 million. The counter closed HK$0.02 or 1 per cent lower at HK$1.93, prior to the news.

$Vividthree(OMK.SI)$: The former mm2 Asia subsidiary on Wednesday evening requested to lift its trading halt, and also announced that it had received a letter of demand from UOB for nearly S$1.2 million. This comes after the group originally obtained a S$5 million temporary bridging loan, in a scheme supported by Enterprise Singapore during Covid-19 in April 2020. Its shares closed flat at S$0.017 on Tuesday, before the trading halt was put in place.

SG Local News

S’Pore Interest Rates Could Bottom Out in Second Quarter of 2026: UOB

Interest rates in Singapore could bottom out in the second quarter of 2026 as the US Federal Reserve cuts rates, shortening the wait for hedging opportunities.

The Singapore Overnight Rate Average, or Sora, is the Republic’s key interest rate benchmark and reflects the average rate of unsecured overnight interbank Singdollar borrowing. For consumers, it influences how much interest they pay on home loans and other bank borrowings.

“If you are looking to hedge interest rates, the timeframe to be looking at it is the first and second quarter of 2026. We are not so far away from the low,” said UOB senior foreign exchange strategist Peter Chia.

Cambodia Extradites Chen Zhi to China Amid Scrutiny of 'Scam Centres'

Cambodia said on Wednesday it had extradited three people to China, including an individual named Chen Zhi, after a joint investigation into transnational crime, amid international probes into sprawling "scam centres".

An interior ministry statement said those extradited on Tuesday were all Chinese nationals. It did not provide further details on Chen Zhi or the alleged crimes, but said his Cambodian citizenship had been revoked.