SG Morning Call | STI Opens 0.56% Higher. OUEREIT, ST Engineering, SGX, Singtel up Around 1%; OCBC Bank, DBS up Nearly 1%

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Thursday. STI rose 0.56%; ValueMax up 1.85%; OUEREIT, ST Engineering, SGX, Singtel up around 1%; OCBC Bank, DBS up nearly 1%.

Stocks in Focus

$ST Engineering(S63.SI)$: It announced on Wednesday that its marine business has secured a six-year subcontract valued at an estimated S$600 million from Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a shipbuilder based in the United Arab Emirates. The contract is for the design and supply of platform systems for a fleet of eight missile gun boats that ADSB is constructing for the Kuwait Naval Force. Shares of ST Engineering closed at S$11.10 on Wednesday, up S$0.29 or 2.7 per cent.

$Nio(NIO.SI)$: The Chinese electric vehicle maker reported a 136 per cent year-on-year increase in March vehicle deliveries. The number of units shipped in the first quarter nearly doubled from the year before. Cumulative deliveries reached about 1.1 million units as at Mar 31. In Singapore, Nio rose 9.4 per cent to close US$0.52 higher at US$6.06 on Wednesday, before the news.

$Yangzijiang Shipbuilding(BS6.SI)$: The shipbuilder on Wednesday confirmed it currently has no plans to undertake any equity fundraising transactions outside of Singapore. This was after a recent TradeWinds report said that founder Ren Yuanlin was eyeing a Hong Kong listing, having called the Singapore Exchange “too small and moribund”. The company clarified that while the founder remains a substantial shareholder, he does not hold a management role or participate in the group’s operational decision-making. Shares of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 4.8 per cent to close S$0.18 higher at S$3.96 before the clarification.

$China Everbright Water(U9E.SI)$: The water environmental management company on Wednesday said it has secured two new projects in Huai’an and Jiangyin, China. The expansion in Huai’an requires an investment of about 90 million yuan (S$16.8 million), while in Jiangyin, the company will take over the operation of an industrial waste plant for a high-tech park. Shares of China Everbright Water fell 2.1 per cent to close S$0.005 lower at S$0.23 before the announcement.

SG Local News

Microsoft to Invest US$5.5 Billion in Singapore to Deepen AI Push

$Microsoft(MSFT)$ on Wednesday (Apr 1) announced it will invest US$5.5 billion in Singapore over five years, as it ramps up its artificial intelligence (AI) operations in the Republic.

The investment, which runs till 2029, will go towards expanding cloud and AI infrastructure, as well as talent development, alongside a nationwide push to widen access to AI tools and training.

During his keynote address at the ATxInspire event held at Capitol Theatre, Microsoft vice-chair and president Brad Smith noted that this is the tech giant’s largest single commitment worldwide, and is part of a broader US$50 billion push for AI investments by the end of 2029.

Singapore’s AI Ambitions Put Telcos to the Test, Raise “Dumb Pipe” Risk

Singtel’s recent mechanical fault that triggered widespread outages in Singapore has cast a spotlight on a potential weakness in the Republic’s artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions.

The issue is no longer just about network capacity, but whether the telecommunications providers underpinning the digital backbone are equipped – and sufficiently incentivised – to support the next wave of compute-heavy demand.

Even as AI drives data consumption, local telcos are facing a persistent challenge: flatlining average revenue per user (ARPU). As at Dec 31, Singtel’s mobile ARPU fell slightly to S$23 per month from S$24 per month the previous year, while StarHub’s ARPU remained stagnant at S$22 per month.