PhillipCapital’s Glenn Thum has kept his “buy” calls on DBS, OCBC and UOB with unchanged target prices of $41.60, $14.22 and $35.70 respectively

“We remain positive on banks. Bank dividend yields are attractive at 5% with upside surprises due to excess capital ratios. Stable economic conditions and rising interest rates remain tailwinds for the banking sector. Singapore Exchange (SGX) is another beneficiary of higher interest rates,” says Thum.

“Pressure points for the banks will be higher staff costs and a nudge in general provisioning due to weaker economic assumptions,” he adds.