SG Morning Highlights | Wilmar Reports 22.6% Decline in Q1 Net Profit

Advancers / Decliners is 99 to 91, with 205.67 million securities worth S$159.95 million changing hands.

Analysts have revised down the GDP growth projection for Singapore in the first quarter of 2024 to 2.2% following weaker industrial production in March, while the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) maintains a slightly higher expectation of 2.7%. RHB and UOB were taken aback by the softer manufacturing output in March but note that sectors related to consumer goods and semiconductors remained robust, indicating continued recovery in major economies like the US and China. The decline in manufacturing during the first quarter is partly attributed to a high base effect from March 2023, when manufacturing output surged by 4.5% month-on-month, and the fluctuating biomedical sector, particularly pharmaceuticals. Despite this, clusters linked to semiconductors and consumer electronics continue to show growth.

In the first quarter of 2024, there were 90 properties listed for auction, reflecting a 9.1% decrease from the previous quarter but a 16.9% rise on a year-over-year basis. Knight Frank noted that the quarter-over-quarter drop was due to the Chinese New Year, which led to some auctions being postponed and fewer properties being listed. Breaking it down by property type, residential listings made up nearly half of the total at 47.8%, totaling 43 properties, which was seven less than in the fourth quarter of 2023. Office and industrial properties represented smaller shares of the total at 8.9% and 20% with eight and 18 listings, respectively, both slightly down from the previous quarter's numbers. Retail properties comprised 21.1% of the listings, showing a minor increase with 19 properties listed, up from 18 in the preceding quarter.