Singapore stocks rose this week, with the STI up 2.2%, although the Iranian conflict continued for a third week and oil markets remained under pressure.
In terms of individual stocks, Sembcorp rose 6.6%; Singtel rose 5%; SGX rose 4.8%; DBS and SIA Engineering rose 3.8%; NIO rose 3.7%; OCBC rose 3.6%; UOB rose 2.8%; Keppel rose 2.6%; Sats rose 2.5%; Genting Singapore rose 2.3%; Yangzijiang Shipbuilding rose 1%; SIA rose 0.9%.
Market News
Singapore's Largest Taxi Firm Raises Fares as Fuel Prices Climb
ComfortDelGro Corp., Singapore's largest taxi operator, will raise fares temporarily as it moves to shield cabbies from surging fuel costs driven by a global energy shock.
Passengers will pay an additional S$0.50 ($0.39) to S$0.80 for trips starting from March 24, the company said in a social media post on Tuesday. Metered rides will also see a S$0.01 increase in the distance-time rate.
The full amount collected will go directly to drivers, said the firm which operates more than 8,400 taxis locally. The measures will remain in place until May 31.
GIC Mulls Several Hundred Billion Yen Tokyo Property Sale
GIC Pte., Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, is considering selling its stake in an office building in central Tokyo for at least several hundred billion yen, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg reported.
The fund will look for buyers for its holding of the office space section of the Pacific Century Place Marunouchi from the 8th to 31st floors, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. It acquired the property from PAG-backed Secured Capital Investment Management for about ¥180 billion ($1.1 billion) in October 2014.
Real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. and Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. have been selected to advise on the possible sale, and they’ve begun sounding out companies and foreign real estate funds about whether they would be interested in bidding for the property, the people familiar with the matter said.
UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong's FY2025 Pay Down 20% at S$12 Million, in Line with Profit Drop
UOB deputy chairman and chief executive officer Wee Ee Cheong received S$12 million in total compensation for the 12 months ended Dec 31, 2025, down 20 per cent from S$15 million the year before.
Wee’s latest remuneration package comprised S$1.4 million in base salary, S$10.6 million in bonuses, and S$42,629 in benefits-in-kind, transport and event-related benefits, the bank said in its FY2025 annual report released on Thursday (Mar 19) after market close.
Sixty per cent of his variable pay is deferred and will vest over the next three years. Of this deferred component, 40 per cent will be issued in cash, with the remainder in share-linked units.
Hongkong Land Acquires 10.8% Stake in Suntec Reit for S$541 Million
Property group Hongkong Land has acquired a 10.8 per cent stake in Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) from ESR for S$541 million, in its drive to grow its presence in Singapore’s prime commercial sector.
In a statement on Thursday (Mar 19), Hongkong Land said the acquisition will enable the group to deploy recently recycled capital into prime, income-producing commercial assets in the city-state.
“This aligns with the company’s positive outlook and conviction in Singapore’s prime commercial property market,” it said. “The yield derived from the company’s stake in Suntec Reit will contribute to the diversification of Hongkong Land’s earnings profile.”
Singtel Says Mechanical Fault, Software Bug Behind Outages; 600,000 Affected
Singtel's outage on Monday (Mar 16) affected about 600,000 customers and was due to a mechanical fault at one of its network facilities, the telco said on Mar 19.
Separately, about 2,000 customers experienced mobile connectivity problems on Mar 17 because of a software bug from a planned IT system upgrade, Singtel told The Straits Times, revealing details for the first time since the back-to-back outages started.
“We know how important it is to stay connected and recognise the impact these incidents may have had on our customers. This should not have happened. We sincerely apologise,” said Singtel chief executive Ng Tian Chong.
