To The Moon

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Friday. STI rose 0.3%; Nio up 3%; UOB up 2%; UOL, SGX up 1%.

Stocks in Focus

$Prudential USD(K6S.SI)$: The insurer will pay RM1.5 billion (S$483 million) in cash to increase its stake in Prudential Assurance Malaysia to 70 per cent, from 51 per cent, it said on Thursday. Shares of Prudential closed flat at US$13.89 before the announcement.

$Keppel(BN4.SI)$: The asset manager announced on Thursday that it signed a binding term sheet with a global telecommunications company to lease a fibre pair on the Bifrost Cable System for 25 years. Under the agreement, Keppel’s connectivity division will grant the telco an indefeasible right of use for the fibre pair. Shares of Keppel closed S$0.16 or 1.5 per cent higher at S$10.89 before the news.

$Suntec Reit(T82U.SI)$ (Suntect Reit): The Reit recorded a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0388 for the second half-year ended Dec 31, 2025, it reported on Thursday. This was a 23.2 per cent increase from the DPU of S$0.0315 for the corresponding period a year earlier. Units of Suntec Reit closed unchanged at S$1.42 before the release of the results.

$Aztech Gbl(8AZ.SI)$: The company announced on Thursday that its wholly owned Malaysia manufacturing facility, IOT Manufacturing, received its certificate of registration under the US Food and Drug Administration. Shares of Aztech Global closed unchanged at S$0.655 before the announcement.

The Assembly Place: The co-living operator’s initial public offering (IPO) was 35.5 times subscribed on Thursday, ahead of its Friday Catalist debut. The IPO drew 1,125 valid applications amounting to 71.1 million shares for two million public offer shares available at S$0.23 apiece. Shares of The Assembly Place will commence trading at 9 am on Friday.

SG Local News

Singapore Begins Allocating $3.9 Billion to Boost Local Stocks

Singapore has started handing out part of the S$5 billion ($3.9 billion) it plans to invest in local stocks to selected fund managers, in a bid to cement an equity market revival.

JPMorgan Asset Management, Temasek Holdings Pte-backed Avanda Investment Management Pte and Fullerton Fund Management Co. are among the first to use government cash to anchor new funds backing listed Singaporean companies. The three were awarded a combined S$1.1 billion from the Monetary Authority of Singapore as part of the first tranche of its Equity Market Development Programme.

The program, designed to help boost the vibrancy of Singapore’s S$1 trillion equity market, may support a rally that has brought the benchmark stock index to a record high. The MAS set up a government-led task force in 2024 to find ways to bolster the market after years of poor liquidity and delistings outnumbering new listings.

GIC Third-Party Agent Pays Fine in Korea Short-Selling Case, ST Reports

A third-party agent of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund has paid a 120.6 million won ($82,328) fine for so-called naked short selling, the Straits Times reported, citing documents by South Korean regulators.

GIC was among six firms fined a combined 3.97 billion won by South Korea’s Securities and Futures Commission, according to the report published Thursday. The case stems from a 2022 order to sell shares worth 666.1 million won in a luxury hotel chain, Hotel Shilla.

Malaysia’s Strong Ringgit Squeezes Export Reliant Glove Makers

Malaysia’s world-leading producers of latex gloves are facing tightened profit margins as the nation’s strong currency bites into dollar-denominated earnings, underscoring challenges of the nation’s exporters.

“While ringgit strength lowers systemic risk at the macro level, it comes at the expense of exporter earnings,” said Teck Yong Eng, business enterprise and analytics professor at the University of Reading Malaysia.

The strengthened Malaysian currency hurt first-quarter earnings of Top Glove Corp. Bhd., the world’s largest glove maker. Its year-on-year sales volume growth of 17% was dampened by a 11% fall in average selling prices due to a weaker dollar against the ringgit.