The Straits Times Index (STI) ended the week at 4,411.95 points, or 3.4% higher to record a new high. DBS Group Research has a year-end target of 4,430 points, while UOB Kay Hian's last target was at 4,602 points. JP Morgan, on Sept 22, increased its 12-month bull target to 6,000 points, up from 5,000 points previously.
In terms of individual stocks, SMIC HK SDR 5to1 rose 25%, CATL HK SDR 30to1 rose 18%, Alibaba HK SDR 5to1 rose 11%; while CMS fell over 5%, and POP MART HK SDR 20to1 fell 4%.
Within the Singapore bourse, DBS Group Holdings, Singapore Exchange, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Singapore Technologies Engineering and Keppel Limited were among the highest advancers in terms of absolute value.
Market News
DBS Looks Safest as Singapore's Mortgages Withstand Macro Risks
DBS shares rose 5% for the week. Singapore banks' mortgage growth in 2025 may hit mid-single digits with defaults remaining limited. This is supported by resilient jobs data and easing rates that help debt servicing, bolstering the resilience of their bonds.
Their share of fixed-rate mortgages is expected to rise in 2H to lift earnings. DBS mortgages appear appears to face the least risk among peers. Financially sound households and lower rates are keeping home demand resilient.
Alibaba Extends $250 Billion Stock Rally That’s Made It China’s Hottest AI Trade
The fund managers believe that Alibaba has the potential to extend the $250 billion stock rally this year that’s made it China’s hottest artificial intelligence trade.
The price of its shares listed in the US has more than doubled, as investors are optimistic about Beijing's vision of achieving self-reliance in the new technology sector. And this poster child of China’s AI hopes remains more than 65% below its all-time high while major American hyperscaler stocks have peaked in recent months.
With lingering caution over the Chinese economy and cutthroat market competition, short bets on Alibaba spiked last month. But a share price that’s still relatively attractive and low investment levels among global funds are seen leaving room for a prolonged rally.
Keppel’s Singapore-US Subsea Cable Bifrost 'Ready for Service'
Keppel Limited’s Bifrost Cable System which directly links Singapore to the US via Indonesia achieves 「ready for service」 status and will start carrying commercial traffic in the coming weeks. Shares of Keppel rose 3.85% for the week.
According to Keppel, Bifrost is the world’s first subsea cable system directly linking Singapore to the West Coast of the USA through the Java sea and Celebes sea. It spans over 20,000 kilometres, and will offer a round-trip latency of just under 165 milliseconds, up to 10 milliseconds faster than existing systems.
YZJ Fin Pumps 1.02 Billion Yuan in Lithium Battery Producer Ningbo Shanshan’s Restructuring
YZJ Fin Hldg shares rose 2.5% for the week. The investment management company said on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement, along with its two of its strategic investors, to lead the restructuring of Chinese lithium battery producer Ningbo Shanshan.
The parties have formed an investment holding platform to acquire 223.3 million shares of Shanshan at 11.44 yuan per share, which translates to 9.9 per cent of Shanshan’s total share capital. The group will contribute 1.02 billion yuan (S$184.4 million) and hold a 40 per cent interest in the platform. Its shares closed 1.7 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$1.18 on Wednesday, prior to the announcement.
BYD-Linked Consortium Wins Singapore Contract to Trial Autonomous Buses in Public
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Thursday (Oct 2) awarded an S$8.1 million contract to pilot autonomous buses on public services to a consortium comprising BYD, MKX Technologies and Zhidao Network Technology.
The trial will begin in the second half of 2026 and run for three years. Its tender was launched before the more recent efforts by the Ministry of Transport to test autonomous vehicles (AVs) in Punggol.