AXTX

• STI snapshot: The Straits Times Index closed Friday at 5,376.74, down 19.29 points or 0.36%, capping a 5.27% slide for October.
• Local catalyst: $DBS (D05.SG)$, $OCBC (O39.SG)$ and $UOB (U11.SG)$ report Q3 results this week — UOB on Nov 4, OCBC on Nov 6 — with wealth-fee normalisation expected to dent sequential profit.
• US overnight: The Nasdaq fell 2.86% (its worst day since June), the S&P 500 lost 1.82% and the Dow 1.09% as Intel's worst day ever and AI-spending fears hammered tech.
• Today: $Apple (AAPL.US)$ and $Palantir (PLTR.US)$ report after the US close (early Tuesday SGT); ISM manufacturing lands at 11pm SGT.
• Commodities: WTI near US$104/bbl after a Strait of Hormuz tanker attack; gold below US$4,000; Bitcoin around US$77,800 after the record US$6.3bn Binance hack.

Singapore Open

The Straits Times Index ended Friday at 5,376.74, down 19.29 points or 0.36%, with roughly 1.1 billion securities worth about S$1.9 billion changing hands. October's 5.27% decline leaves the benchmark well off its September close of 5,675.88, as the global AI unwind hit Singapore's semiconductor-heavy industrials.

The three banks — the index's heaviest weights — all closed lower ahead of an earnings-heavy week: $DBS (D05.SG)$ fell 0.91% to S$73.13, $OCBC (O39.SG)$ eased 0.17% to S$29.29 and $UOB (U11.SG)$ slipped 0.31% to S$41.37. UOB reports third-quarter results on Wednesday (Nov 4) and OCBC on Friday (Nov 6), with DBS, the largest of the trio, due later in the week. Analysts expect the banks' Q3 profit to ease quarter-on-quarter as wealth-management fee income normalises; OCBC's Q3 net profit is seen around S$2.05 billion, up 4% year-on-year but down 8% from Q2.

Friday's damage was heaviest in local chip names, which tracked the US selloff: AEM dropped 8.59%, UMS Integration 7.80% and Frencken 5.19%.

Singapore Macro

The Monetary Authority of Singapore held its S$NEER appreciation path at the October 14 review and narrowed its 2026 core-inflation forecast to 1.5–2.0% from 1.5–2.5%. September core inflation eased to 2.0% from 2.2% in August, while advance Q3 GDP came in at 5.4% year-on-year, keeping 2026 growth on track to exceed 5%.

The transmission to SGX names is direct: with WTI near US$104/bbl, MAS has flagged energy costs as an upside inflation risk, which argues for keeping the Singapore dollar firm and local rates elevated. That cushions bank net-interest margins but raises funding costs for REITs and landlords, and keeps the energy angle relevant for names like $Sembcorp Industries (U96.SG)$.

Weekend Wrap

Three weekend developments set the tone. First, Binance suffered a record ~US$6.3 billion hack, freezing about US$3 billion and pausing deposits and withdrawals; Bitcoin slipped to roughly US$77,800 and crypto-adjacent names remain on edge. Second, China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 in October, back into contraction. Third, Beijing is convening regulators and state banks to expand its stock buyback/increase-holding relending tool, with fresh trillion-yuan quotas reportedly earmarked for China Guoxin and China Chengtong.

Tuesday's US midterm elections also loom — President Trump has warned he would use vetoes to block Democratic legislation if his party loses Congress, layering policy uncertainty on an already fragile tech tape.

US Overnight (Friday Close)

Friday closed out a brutal October. The S&P 500 fell 1.82% to 7,580.07, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.86% to 25,437.00 — its worst day since June and its worst month since March 2025, down more than 5% for October — and the Dow lost 572 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.31. For the week, the S&P 500 slipped 0.57%, the Nasdaq 2.00% and the Dow 0.85%. The 10-year Treasury yield hovered near 5%, with the fed funds rate at 3.75–4.00% and markets pricing roughly a 70% chance of another hike by December.

Key Movers

$Intel (INTC.US)$ -28.58% — Intel had its worst day on record, sliding the most in more than four decades, after a downbeat fourth-quarter outlook. Management flagged a memory-chip crunch and soft PC demand, and warned of cash burn this year. The blow rippled through the semiconductor complex and hit SGX's AEM, UMS and Frencken on Friday.

$Nvidia (NVDA.US)$ -4.22% — Nvidia was the S&P 500's biggest single-stock drag as investors questioned whether hyperscalers will keep spending on AI infrastructure into 2027. The AI-spending rethink, reinforced by Amazon's and Alphabet's results, has left the stock well below its highs even as its own fundamentals stay intact.

$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ -1.4% and $Alphabet (GOOGL.US)$ -1.4% — Both slipped after earnings that were broadly in line but failed to satisfy. Amazon posted strong cloud growth yet heavy AI capex commitments spooked investors; Alphabet's search revenue grew just 12%, reinforcing the view that AI is squeezing its core search business.

Asia Pre-Market

US futures are trying to stabilise Monday morning: S&P 500 futures were roughly flat and Nasdaq futures a touch higher after Friday's rout. WTI settled at US$104.12/bbl on Friday, up about 2% after a tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent near US$113. Gold slid below US$4,000 to about US$3,880 (-3.6% Friday), and Bitcoin traded around US$77,800. The key read for SGX: a steady chip tape and oil holding near US$104 would let banks and industrials reopen on firmer footing; any renewed Nvidia-led weakness would pressure the semiconductor names again.

This Week's US Earnings and Economic Calendar

Apple headlines a packed week that also brings Palantir, AMD and Qualcomm — all closely watched by Singapore retail investors.

Earnings Spotlight — Apple: $Apple (AAPL.US)$ reports fiscal Q4 results after Monday's close, landing around 6am SGT Tuesday. Consensus is for EPS of about US$1.98 on roughly US$113.4 billion of revenue. It is the first report under new CEO John Ternus, who took over on September 1, and follows resilient iPhone 18 demand even as high memory costs weigh on margins. With the stock near US$344 and options pricing a roughly 4% move, Apple's read on December-quarter demand is the market's most important AI-adjacent signal — and it lands in the same week as ISM PMIs and Friday's jobs report, so the reaction is likely to be amplified.

One More Thing

The framework for this week: separate rotation from outright de-risking. A market that rotates out of crowded AI winners into banks, energy and quality balance sheets is healthier than one where breadth collapses alongside the Nasdaq. Watch two clues — whether Nvidia stabilises above its recent lows, and whether Singapore's three banks, reporting from Wednesday, can hold margins while wealth fees normalise. If bank guidance holds and chip names stop bleeding, the STI's 5,376 support zone is a rotation story, not a bear leg. If both break, treat it as capital leaving rather than just changing hands.

Sources: The Business Times, Reuters, MarketWatch, Stock Titan.

This briefing is compiled with AI assistance from market data and wire reports, and reviewed by the Longbridge editorial team before publication.

This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.