To The Moon

Singapore stocks rose this week, with the STI up 0.9%, as geopolitical jitters subsided.

Meanwhile, Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 1.2% in December from a year earlier, official data showed on Friday. Headline inflation was 1.2% in annual terms in December, matched the poll forecast of 1.2%. For 2025, Singapore's core inflation averaged 0.7%, down from 2.8% in 2024. Headline inflation averaged 0.9% over the same period, down from 2.4% in the previous year.

In terms of individual stocks, UOB rose 7.5%; OCBC rose 4.2%; NIO rose 1.9%; SIA and Keppel rose 1.1%; while DBS fell 0.8%; Singtel and SGX fell 1.1%; SIA Engineering fell 1.4%; Sembcorp fell 2.1%; Engineering and SingPost fell 2.5%; Seatrium fell 5.8%; Yangzijiang Shipbuilding fell 7%;

Market News

Singapore Core Inflation Rate Steady For Third Straight Month

Singapore’s core inflation rate rose 1.2% in December, maintaining the same pace for the third consecutive month as food and services inflation held steady.

The overall inflation rate came in at 1.2%, according to a statement by the Department of Statistics Singapore on Friday. Both gauges were unchanged from the previous month and in line with the median estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Core inflation averaged 0.7% in 2025, while overall inflation was at 0.9%, both declining significantly from 2024.

Singapore Begins Allocating $3.9 Billion to Boost 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.

Singapore Home Prices Rise Less Than Estimated, Rents Drop

Singapore home prices rose 3.3% in 2025, slightly less than initially estimated, as the market showed signs of cooling toward the end of the year.

The increase compared with a preliminary estimate of 3.4%. Residential prices grew 0.6% in the fourth quarter, down from an initial 0.7% print, according to final figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday.

Private rents fell 0.5% in the quarter, the first decline in more than a year. Rents rose 1.9% for the year.

Singapore’s real estate market has defied bearish predictions despite multiple rounds of curbs introduced by the government to prevent speculation. Prices have kept growing, albeit at a slower pace, thanks to falling interest rates and strong demand for new projects by locals and wealthy immigrants. That’s likely to weigh on policymakers ahead of the annual budget announcement on Feb. 12.

Singapore’s Small-Cap Stocks Get Bullish Calls on Market Revamp

Singapore’s small- and mid-cap stocks may be poised for further gains, supported by local market reforms, according to analysts.

Regulators are set to make a final round of disbursement from the S$5 billion ($3.9 billion) Equity Market Development Program in the second quarter of 2026, which could “broaden investor interest beyond benchmark large-cap names,” Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. analysts including Ada Lim wrote in a note dated Monday. Efforts by the program’s review group may also “foster greater investor confidence” in local small- and mid-cap firms, they said.

Lower interest rates and a stronger Singapore dollar will also provide a tailwind for the small- and mid-caps, Macquarie Group Ltd. strategists including Jayden Vantarakis wrote in a note on Friday. “These stocks overall offer higher growth and have a slightly higher 2026 yield” compared with estimates for the benchmark, they said.