Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened lower on Friday. STI fell 0.7%; Keppel, SGX and Wilmar fell 2%; ST Engineering, SIA, and Capitaland Investment fell 1%; Seatrium fell 0.9%; Singtel fell 0.8%; OCBC and DBS fell 0.4%.

Stocks in Focus

Hongkong Land: The property developer’s underlying profit for FY2025 fell 8 per cent on the year to US$458 million from US$499 million in the previous financial year. Revenue declined to US$1.4 billion from US$2 billion previously. Its net profit stood at US$1.3 billion, reversing from a net loss of US$1.4 billion in FY2024. Hongkong Land shares closed on Thursday 2.5 per cent or US$0.20 higher at US$8.15 before the news.

SIA Engineering, CapitaLand Ascott Trust (Clas): SIA Engineering will replace Clas on the reserve list of the Straits Times Index (STI) on Mar 23, said index administrator FTSE Russell on Thursday. The STI reserve list includes the five highest-ranking non-constituents of the STI by market capitalisation. The index’s 30 constituents will stay unchanged after the latest quarterly review. Stapled securities of Clas closed unchanged at S$0.93 before the news. Shares of SIA Engineering ended 0.9 per cent or S$0.03 lower at S$3.22.

CSE Global: The mainboard-listed group is in the early stages of a strategic review. It is assessing various options, including transactions involving the company’s shares and/or all or part of its business and assets, the group said on Thursday. The review follows a request CSE Global received from its controlling shareholder, Temasek-owned Heliconia Capital Management. The counter ended 1.6 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$1.26 before the news.

SG Local News

First Home-Grown Gold ETF to List on SGX on Mar 26

Singapore’s first home-grown physical gold exchange-traded fund (ETF), the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold ETF, will be making its listing debut on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Mar 26. 

The gold ETF is listed by Lion Global Investors (LGI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Eastern Holdings and member of local bank OCBC. It will be traded in both Singapore dollar and United States dollar denominations under SGX tickers GLS and GLU, respectively. 

The initial offer period for the ETF will take place from Mar 6 to 20.

Singapore Taxi Operators Absorb Costs at Their Pumps as Petrol Prices Rise Again Amid Middle East War

Some taxi operators are now absorbing part of the increase in fuel costs at in-house pumps, while several petrol stations continued to raise their prices as the war in the Middle East rages on.

ComfortDelGro (CDG), Singapore’s largest taxi operator, was offering petrol at $1.93 per litre as at the morning of Mar 5 at its six fuel stations in Singapore. This was a five-cent increase from Mar 4 when it was selling petrol at $1.88.

However, the new rates, which are still significantly lower than the posted prices being offered at petrol stations, will benefit its taxi and private-hire drivers, said the company.

Fewer Fresh Graduates Found Work Within 6 Months in 2025; Median Salary Held Steady at S$4,500: Survey

A smaller proportion of university graduates found jobs fresh out of school in 2025, according to graduate employment survey results on Thursday (Mar 5).

The joint survey by Singapore's six autonomous universities found that 83.4 per cent of recent graduates who sought jobs were working within six months of their final exams.

This was down from 87.1 per cent in 2024, and continues a downward trend since 2022.

The median gross monthly salary for this group held steady at S$4,500 (US$3,500).