Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Friday. STI rose 0.4%; NIO rose 2.7%; Keppel DC Reit rose 1.4%; Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 1%.

Stocks to Watch

Keppel DC Reit: The manager of the real estate investment trust (Reit) announced on Thursday that it will be divesting Basis Bay Data Centre in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, for RM55.6 million (S$16.9 million). It said that the sale is expected to be completed around the third quarter of 2025. The Reit’s share of the consideration paid by Basis Bay Services MSC is RM55.1 million, based on its 99 per cent shareholding in Basis Bay Capital Management and the divestment consideration. The counter closed 1.4 per cent or S$0.03 higher at S$2.21, before the news.

SingPost: SingPost’s sudden dismissal of three senior executives, and their strong denials of the company’s allegations against them, calls for an independent inquiry, according to Singapore’s investor watchdog.

CityDev, Frasers Property: Developers City Developments (CDL), Frasers Property and Sekisui House started the year’s new launches with their Toa Payoh project, The Orie, with prices starting in the S$2,400 to S$2,500 per square foot (psf) range. Located in District 12, the 99-year leasehold development will house 777 units in two blocks of 40-storey apartments. The Orie is the first private residential launch in Toa Payoh since 2016.

SG Local News

Singapore’s Home Prices Rebound on Year-End Sales Boom

Singapore private home prices rebounded after its first drop in more than a year, underpinned by a rush of sales of new projects.

Private residential prices rose 2.3% in the last quarter of 2024 compared with the previous three months, according to preliminary estimates from an index released on Thursday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. That reverses a 0.7% drop in the third quarter, and is the largest increase in a year.

Home prices for the whole year rose 3.9% based on preliminary numbers, marking the eighth consecutive year of increases.

10-Year Average Return on Singapore Savings Bonds Slides to 2.82%

The 10-year average return for the latest tranche of Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) continued to fall, to 2.82 per cent, in line with rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.

In contrast, the preceding tranche’s 10-year average return was 2.86 per cent.

The February issuance, which opened on Thursday (Jan 2), has a first-year interest rate of 2.76 per cent, slightly higher than the 2.73 per cent offered by the January issuance.

Economists Stick to 2025 Singapore Growth Outlook, but Warn of Downside Risks

Private-sector economists largely kept to their 2025 growth forecasts for Singapore, after the fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 gross domestic product figures exceeded market expectations.

Yet they also warned of significant downside risks to the outlook, such as United States president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plan and intensification of geopolitical tensions.

“Growth momentum in trade-related sectors – including manufacturing – should be sustained into early 2025, supported by the ongoing upturn in the electronics cycle, with tailwinds from some front-loading of exports and the attendant ramp-up of production ahead of Trump’s proposed tariffs on US imports,” said UOB associate economist Jester Koh.

But for the rest of 2025, the outlook remains clouded, he added. Downside risks could emanate from further protectionist measures under Trump’s “America First” policy, elevated geopolitical tensions, a possible peak in the electronics cycle, and uncertainty over the pace of monetary-policy easing by major central banks.

Concurring, OCBC chief economist Selena Ling noted that trade sentiment may remain on edge, as it is expected that Trump will enact wide-ranging and possibly punitive tariffs on trade with China and the rest of the world after he takes office later this month.