Singapore banks – April 2026, ~8% loan growth

💫Two out of the three Singapore banks – DBS and OCBC – have climbed to fresh record highs following the announcement of record or near-record income in FY2025 despite the declining rates environment

🔥Both stocks have jumped more than 15% in the past 12 weeks, leading their respective call warrants to spike more than 100% while put warrants tracking both names are amongst the top losers table with losses of 87.5% to 99.1%

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released the latest loan data—providing insights into the state of the Singapore banking sector—on Friday, 29 May 2026

Macquarie Research (MQ) highlights the essence of the loan data and reiterate their preference of the stocks within the sector

Read more for the full article containing excerpts of MQ’s report published on 1 June 2026, as well as important disclaimers:

Key points

• Total loans rose 0.8% month-on-month (+8.0% year-on-year). Consumer loans expanded +0.5% month-on-month. Deposits were +0.2% month-on-month (+7.3% year-on-year).

• The system loan/deposit ratio increased to 67.6%, while the CASA ratio increased to 50.1%.

• MQ’s preference in the sector is OCBC (OP) > DBS (N) > UOB (N).

Observations from the dataBusiness loans rose by +0.9% month-on-month (MoM); The rise in business loans was almost entirely due to Financial Institutions +0.4% MoM (+9.4% year-on-year) and Manufacturing +1.6% MoM (+1.5% year-on-year). Professional and private (business) loans grew +9.9% MoM (+7.7% year-on-year) and transport loans increased by +1.1% MoM (+16.0% YoY). On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, total business loans were up +7.6%.

Mortgage loans increased +0.6% MoM (+6.0% YoY). Developers sold 1,548 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), in April, up 129% YoY and reaching the highest monthly level in six months. April sales were up 19.1 per cent from the 1,300 units sold in March.

New launches of Tengah Garden Residences and Vela Bay sold more than 1,220 units over their weekend launches in April, with Tengah Garden Residences nearing sell-out at a median price of S$2,111 per square foot (psf) and Vela Bay, the first private residential project in the Bayshore precinct, recorded a 72 per cent take-up rate at a median price of S$2,865 psf. Credit-card loans decreased -0.2% MoM (+5.4% YoY)

Deposits grew +0.2% MoM (+7.3% YoY), demand deposits grew by +1.0% MoM. Savings deposits increased by +0.7% MoM, while fixed deposits fell by -0.3% MoM. The low-cost (CASA) deposit ratio stood at 50.1% (+0.3% MoM). The banking sector loan-deposit ratio stood at 67.6%.

MAS raised the SGNEER slope at its recent April meeting, citing rising energy prices as threatening cost-push inflation; considering how monetary policy works in Singapore, this could entail stronger FX but lower short-end SGD rates (all else equal). Macquarie's Macro Strategy view is for a US Fed rate hike in 1Q27.

OCBC is MQ’s top sector pick

OCBC and DBS posted strong 1Q26 results, led by Non-Interest Income. OCBC has had strong loan growth and pre-emptively topped up general allowances; combined with a more attractive valuation, this makes it MQ’s top pick.

While MQ thinks the sector should benefit from wealth inflows, there are risks around lower deployment into investments amid any return of 'risk off' sentiment.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​DBS: Neutral, 12-month target price of $52.38 based on a Price to Book stock methodology

OCBC: Outperform, 12-month target price of $24.25 based on a Gordon Growth Model stock methodology​​​​​​​

UOB: Neutral, 12-month target price of $36.78 based on a Gordon Growth Model stock methodology​​​​​​​

Note:Macquarie Research is independent from the Warrants business, what the Macquarie Warrants desks quote from Macquarie Research may not reflect the complete analysis of Macquarie Research on the relevant company over time.

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Macquarie has call and put warrants tracking all three banks, allowing investors to capitalise on the volatility of the bank shares.The trending warrants are priced around $0.034 to $0.215 and will move approximately 6 to 9 times more than the bank shares, based on their effective gearing levels as of 10AM today.Interested investors can use the Exposure Simulator tool to estimate the warrant price performance of any of the warrants based on your target exit levels in the stocks.

Trending DBS call $DBS MB eCW260929(KZAW.SI)$ : https://warrants.com.sg/tools/exposuresimulator/KZAW

Trending DBS put $DBS MB ePW261229(KQXW.SI)$ : https://warrants.com.sg/tools/exposuresimulator/KQXW

Trending OCBC call $OCBC Bk MB eCW260930(IGBW.SI)$ : https://warrants.com.sg/tools/exposuresimulator/IGBW

Trending OCBC put $OCBC Bk MB ePW261229(8E3W.SI)$ : https://warrants.com.sg/tools/exposuresimulator/8E3W

Trending UOB call $UOB MB eCW260930(Y2FW.SI)$ : https://warrants.com.sg/tools/exposuresimulator/Y2FW

Trending UOB put EPGW: https://warrants.com.sg/tools/exposuresimulator/EPGW