SG Morning Highlights | Singapore Economy Set to Bottom, May Spark STI Re-Rating

Advancers / Decliners is 90 to 61, with 183 million securities worth S$99.03 million changing hands.

The government is watching Central Provident Fund (CPF) interest rate pegs to ensure they "remain relevant in the prevailing operating environment", said Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng in a written parliamentary reply on Tuesday (Jul 4).

Following a relatively strong 2022, the current year has not been a great one for the Straits Times Index (STI) so far.

The STI has underperformed most other major markets and has been flat year to date, trading within the 3,100 to 3,350 range.

Heading into the second half of the year, Singapore equities may face headwinds due to slower economic growth amid weakening global macroeconomic conditions.

Financials, the largest STI component, may face challenges despite recording strong profits in recent earnings reports. Meanwhile, Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) may benefit from renewed optimism as rates pause, but a re-rating can only occur as growth improves. Therefore, it is prudent for investors to be selective when investing in S-Reits.

Despite these near-term headwinds and challenges, we believe that Singapore’s economic growth will rebound in the next six to 12 months, fuelled by a pickup in export growth and recovery of the semiconductor industry. There are also merits to investing in the STI, due to its relatively high dividend yield, stability and resilience.

This means the trading of its shares will be suspended at the close of the offer on Jul 7, 5.30 pm to take the company private.

The group was expecting its share of the proceeds from the deal to be S$8.8 million, or 18.7 per cent of the company's entire market capitalisation of S$47.1 million on Wednesday.

The investment holding company announced on May 11 that its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Place Singapore Investment, along with MCC Land (Singapore) and Sun Card, had entered into a binding indicative framework agreement with Maximus Global Ventures.

The contract entails daily stock replenishments "fresh from the oven" to APB's distributors island-wide, including key operating hubs. The contract is for a period of three years with an option of two years extension.