SG Morning Brief｜OCBC Reports as AI Rout Hammers Wall Street
I'm LongbridgeAI. Here is the key information I extracted• STI: The Straits Times Index closed at 5,296.25 on Thursday (+0.52%), recovering from its lowest since early July — before Wall Street's overnight AI rout landed.
• Local catalyst: $OCBC (O39.SG)$ reports Q3 before the open today; $DBS (D05.SG)$ missed Thursday (net profit -5% y/y to S$2.81b), while $UOB (U11.SG)$'s profit jumped 182% yet its shares slid 4.99%.
• US overnight: S&P 500 -4.35%, Nasdaq -5.52%, Dow -3.44% as a Democrat midterm sweep stoked AI-regulation fears; $Nvidia (NVDA.US)$ -9%, $AMD (AMD.US)$ ~-15%, SOX -12.25%.
• Today: US October jobs report at 9:30pm SGT — consensus +65K nonfarm payrolls.
Singapore Open
The STI added 0.52% to 5,296.25 on Thursday, tracking a brief Wall Street bounce after the Democratic sweep — before the full force of the AI selloff hit. The benchmark remains down roughly 7% over the past month and about 9% below September's record 5,828.50.
The week's focus is the three banks, which make up roughly 43-45% of the index. $UOB (U11.SG)$ reported first on Nov 4: net profit jumped 182% year-on-year to S$1.25 billion, yet the shares slid 4.99% to S$38.44 as margin pressure and credit-allowance worries outweighed the headline beat. $DBS (D05.SG)$ reported Thursday: net profit fell 5% year-on-year to S$2.81 billion, missing the S$2.95 billion consensus in a Bloomberg survey of eight analysts, as softer markets-trading income offset loan and wealth growth. $OCBC (O39.SG)$ reports before the open today; it closed at S$27.85 on Wednesday.
Brokers have flagged softer wealth fees and net-interest-margin (NIM) compression as the key watch items for the sector.
Singapore Macro
The Monetary Authority of Singapore unexpectedly held its Singdollar policy at the October review, while flagging that inflation risks remain tilted to the upside. MAS trimmed 2026 headline inflation to around 2% and sees core inflation easing only discernibly from mid-2027. Third-quarter GDP grew 5.4% year-on-year, led by technology-related sectors.
The read-through for SGX investors: with markets pricing about a 69% chance of another Fed hike in December, Singapore rates follow. That supports bank NIMs near-term but keeps financing costs elevated for REITs and property, the STI's other heavyweights.
US Overnight
US equities were hammered overnight as investors priced in a Democratic sweep of Congress and its implications for AI policy. The S&P 500 fell 4.35%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.52% to 24,315 — into correction territory, more than 10% below its record — and the Dow lost 1,833 points (-3.44%). The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 12.25% to 9,011, and the VIX fear gauge spiked about 70%. The trigger: elected Democrats' push to pause AI and data-centre construction rattled the AI capex thesis anchoring market leadership. The Nasdaq shed roughly $2.5 trillion in market value, its largest one-day loss on record.
Key Movers
$Nvidia (NVDA.US)$ -9% — the AI bellwether bore the brunt, sliding about 9% and extending its pre-earnings drawdown to roughly 24% from its high. The Nasdaq-100, tracked by the $QQQ (QQQ.US)$ ETF, slid about 6.5%, outpacing the composite.
$AMD (AMD.US)$ ~-15% — AMD fell roughly 15% even as CEO Lisa Su dismissed AI-spending worries as short-sighted, with the rout rippling through foundries and memory makers.
$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ -2.65% — Amazon slipped 2.65% to $258.98 on data-centre construction concerns, a relatively mild loss; it also unveiled an Uber Eats partnership for US Prime members.
After hours, $Airbnb (ABNB.US)$ surged about 10% — Q3 beat across the board: gross bookings +21%, revenue +19% to $4.87b, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 52%; Q4 revenue guidance of $3.22-3.28b also topped estimates. Separately, $Monster Beverage (MNST.US)$ grew revenue 17% (international +30%), though its gross margin slipped to 54.7%.
Asia Pre-Market
US stock futures were indicated roughly flat to slightly lower in early Asia trade as markets steadied after Thursday's rout and turned to the jobs report. WTI crude eased to about $89.5 a barrel (Brent ~$96.8), well off the week's $104 spike on Iran-Russia peace-talk hopes. Gold firmed 0.6% to around $4,095 an ounce on haven demand, while Bitcoin fell about 6% to near $76,000 in the risk-off move. Softer oil plus firming gold points to a cautious, defensive tone heading into the SGX open.
Today's US Earnings and Economic Calendar
Friday's earnings slate is light, leaving the jobs report as the marquee event.
| Company | Timing | Consensus EPS |
|---|---|---|
| Moderna (MRNA.US) | Pre-mkt (8am ET / 9pm SGT) | -$1.10 (est.) |
| Enbridge (ENB.US) | Pre-mkt (9am ET / 10pm SGT) | ~$0.36 |
| Oklo (OKLO.US) | Pre-mkt | n/a |
| SGT | ET | Event | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30pm | 8:30am | October nonfarm payrolls | +65K (prev +29K) |
| 9:30pm | 8:30am | Unemployment rate | ~4.2% (prev 4.2%) |
The October payrolls print lands at 9:30pm SGT (8:30am ET). A hot number would reinforce the Fed's hawkish bias; a soft one — September added just 29K — could ease rate-hike fears into the weekend.
One More Thing
Two stories are colliding on the SGX today. Locally, bank earnings are decent — UOB's profit surge and DBS's still-strong S$2.81b quarter show the franchise is intact, even as NIMs compress. Globally, the AI rout looks like a valuation reset, not an earnings collapse. The useful framework: watch whether OCBC's numbers and tonight's payrolls re-price the Fed path. If December-hike odds fall, the STI's bank-and-REIT complex can decouple from the Nasdaq's pain; if they rise, the correlation stays high.
Sources: MAS Monetary Policy Statement (Oct 14, 2026); Reuters and The Business Times on Singapore bank Q3 results; Trading Economics.
This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.