Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Friday. STI rose 0.4%; Thomson Medical up over 5%; NIO up 4.6%; Alibaba HK SDR, Food Empire up over 2%.

Stocks in Focus

OCBC, Singtel: The bank will partner the three local universities on research to develop quantum technology applications in derivative pricing, fraud detection and data security. On Thursday, it inked 12-month long collaboration agreements with the National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University and Nanyang Technological University. It is also working with Singtel and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to explore the application of quantum key distribution. Shares of OCBC finished Thursday S$0.12 or 0.7 per cent higher at S$17.08; shares of Singtel closed 3 per cent or S$0.12 higher at S$4.17.

Wilmar International: It has agreed to acquire up to 20 per cent of the shares held by India’s Adani Commodities in a joint venture (JV) between the two companies. This comes as Adani Commodities announced its exit from the JV in December 2024. For 275 rupees per share, Wilmar’s wholly owned unit Lence will buy a maximum of 259.9 million shares in the Mumbai-listed JV, AWL Agri Business, which was formerly known as Adani Wilmar. Wilmar shares on the Singapore bourse ended Thursday at S$2.99, up 0.7 per cent or S$0.02.

Food Empire: The group on Friday announced its partnership with Santan Food Services to co-develop and launch a new range of ready-to-drink beverages. The collaboration will kick off with a Vietnamese iced coffee product, set to be sold on AirAsia flights and through retail channels across the region. It paves the way for Food Empire and Santan to explore further co-branded and private label initiatives across a wider range of beverages and snack products, said Food Empire. Santan is a brand under AirAsia’s non-airline subsidiary, RedBeat Ventures. The counter finished Thursday 5.5 per cent or S$0.11 higher at S$2.12.

Telechoice International: The telco services company will exit the Singapore Exchange (SGX) watch list with effect from Friday. Its application to be removed from the list received SGX’s in-principle approval, it said in a Friday bourse filing. The company was placed on the watch list in December 2023, after four consecutive years of losses. The counter ended Thursday flat at S$0.15.

SG Local News

US Tariffs Risks Turning Global Trade Into 'Arm-Wrestling Match', Singapore FM Says

Global trade risks becoming a “bilateral arm-wrestling match” following President Donald Trump’s approach of slapping tariffs on its partners, according to Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

Such an imposition may trigger a strong temptation from the other side to impose reciprocal tariffs. “Instead of a rules-based global system that promotes trade, you now have a system where every trade agreement becomes a bilateral arm-wrestling match,” he said in a fireside chat during the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Wednesday. “You end up in an escalatory spiral.”

Billionaire Scion Pays $19 Million for Singapore Bungalow

A granddaughter of the late Indonesian billionaire Eka Tjipta Widjaja has purchased one of Singapore’s highly coveted bungalows for S$25 million ($19 million).

Mimi Yuliana Maeloa bought the house covering almost 767 square meters (8,256 square feet) on Chatsworth Avenue, according to a property filing in late June seen by Bloomberg News. The house is near the country’s main Orchard Road shopping belt.