By Amanda Lee
Shares of Singapore lender DBS hit an intraday-high as the city-state's equities market continued to rally.
Shares of Southeast Asia's largest bank by asset size, rose as high as 0.8% to 47.05 Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$36.59, in Friday morning trade. It was last 0.6% higher and was on track to close at a record high.
The backdrop of strong U.S. and Greater China equities could be sparking speculation that DBS's wealth management business will continue to grow strongly, says Morningstar senior equity analyst Michael Makdad.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite hit fresh records on Thursday after upbeat earnings from some major companies.
Other banking stocks in Singapore, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank, were last up 1.2% and 0.4%, respectively.
DBS has less exposure than OCBC and UOB to some Southeast Asian markets that have been struggling, Makdad said. DBS also has the strongest wealth-management business among the three banks, he added.
The benchmark Straits Times Index has been touching record-high in recent weeks. The index hit as high as 4192.19 Friday afternoon.
Analysts have said that the STI's strong momentum is driven by Singapore's safe-haven appeal and coming market reforms.
Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 18, 2025 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)
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