Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Thursday. STI rose 0.2%; OCBC Bank, Keppel up over 1%; DBS up 0.6%; Mapletree Ind Tr down over 3%; First Resources, Wing Tai down over 2%.

Stocks in Focus

Keppel: Keppel reported a 5 per cent increase in net profit for the first nine months of FY2025, despite an accounting loss from the proposed divestment of M1’s telco business. The global asset manager and operator said that excluding the non-core portfolio for divestment and discontinued operations, its net profit would have been up 25 per cent for 9M FY2025. Shares of Keppel closed 0.5 per cent or S$0.05 higher at S$9.89 on Wednesday.

Great Eastern: The OCBC-owned insurer on Thursday posted a net profit of S$372 million for its third quarter ended September, 36 per cent up from S$273.4 million in the year-ago period. This was driven mainly by robust investment results from shareholders’ funds, supported by modest growth in underlying insurance business. The counter ended Wednesday 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$15.04.

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT): MIT reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of S$0.0318 for the second fiscal quarter ended Sep 30, 2025, down 5.6 per cent from S$0.0337 in the corresponding year-ago period. This decline was attributed to the absence of the distribution of net divestment gain from its Tanglin Halt Cluster. Revenue for Q2 also declined 6.2 per cent year on year to S$170.2 million, from S$181.4 million previously. Net property income fell 7.8 per cent to S$124 million from S$134.5 million. Units of MIT closed up S$0.01 or 0.5 per cent at S$2.22 on Wednesday, before the announcement.

Hong Leong Asia: A director of Hong Leong Asia’s subsidiary China Yuchai International has resigned amid ongoing investigations by authorities in China. Hong Leong Asia owns a 48.7 per cent stake in China Yuchai, which on Wednesday disclosed that the director, Wu Qiwei is under investigation by the Yulin Municipal Supervisory Commission on suspicions of “serious violations of discipline and law”. Shares of Hong Leong Asia rose 1.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.40 on Wednesday, before the news.

CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT): The manager posted a net property income of 273.5 million yuan (S$50 million) for its third quarter ended Sep 30, down by 8.5 per cent from 298.9 million yuan in the previous corresponding period. Revenue for Q3 fell 8 per cent on the year to 416.6 million yuan, from 452.8 million yuan in Q3 2024. Units of CapitaLand China Trust ended Wednesday 1.2 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$0.815.

Starhill Global Reit: The manager of Starhill Global Reit reported a marginal rise of 0.2 per cent in the Reit’s net property income to S$37.9 million for the first quarter of the 2026 financial year ended Sep 30. This was attributed to stronger contributions from its retail properties in Singapore and assets in Malaysia . Revenue increased by 0.7 per cent to S$48.3 million in Q1, from S$48 million in Q1 FY2025. Units of Starhill Global Reit closed unchanged at S$0.59 on Wednesday, before the announcement.

Far East Hospitality Trust (FEHT): The managers of the trust posted on Thursday a net property income of S$25.9 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30, down 1 per cent from S$26.2 million in the same period a year before. Gross revenue for Q3 rose by 5.7 per cent on the year to S$30.4 million, from S$28.7 million. Stapled securities of FEHT closed 0.8 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.615 on Wednesday.

CDL Hospitality Trust (CDLHT): The trust's manager reported a 5.6 per cent fall in net property income, down from S$36.3 million to S$34.3 million for the third quarter ended Sep 30. Revenue rose 2.5 cent to S$69.2 million on the back of stronger contributions from the Australia and UK portfolios. Revenue per available room came in mixed across the stapled group’s portfolio. Stapled securities of CDLHT ended Wednesday 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.84.

SG Local News

More Than 3 in 5 Singaporeans Prefer to Invest in Property over Stocks and Bonds: Survey

Over 64 per cent of Singaporeans chose real estate as their preferred investment, over a range of asset classes such as equities, fixed deposits, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies, according to ERA’s 2025 My Dream Home Survey on Thursday (Oct 23).

The survey by ERA, conducted in collaboration with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, notes that similar to the previous year’s trend, 41 per cent of respondents are eyeing an HDB flat, 39 per cent aspire to own a private condominium, 14 per cent are considering an executive condominium, and 7 per cent hope to buy a landed property.

Singapore, Vietnam Sign Memorandum of Cooperation on Rice Trade

Singapore and Vietnam on Thursday (Oct 30) signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) on rice trade at the Apec Economic Leaders’ Week in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Under the MOC, Vietnam will support the “unimpeded export of a mutually agreed quantity of rice” to Singapore on agreed terms, upon Singapore’s request.

In a joint statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade said the MOC “lays a solid foundation for promoting stable and sustainable rice trade, contributing to strengthening bilateral food security, including through avoiding unnecessary trade restrictions”.