Key Points

• STI snapshot: The Straits Times Index closed Friday at 5,711.12, up 0.5% (27.75 points), adding about 1% for the week as the three local banks led the advance.
• Local catalyst: $Keppel (BN4.SG)$ and $StarHub (CC3.SG)$ confirmed talks over an M1 deal, while August core inflation at 2.2% firms the case for a possible MAS tightening this October.
• US overnight: The $S&P 500 (SPY.US)$ rose 0.51% Friday as oil slid on US-Iran Strait of Hormuz truce hopes; the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.18%.
• Week ahead: Micron reports Wednesday after the US close, US core PCE lands Wednesday and September payrolls land Friday, both at 8.30pm SGT.

Singapore Open

The STI heads into Monday near a 17-year high after a banks-led finish on Friday. $DBS (D05.SG)$ closed at S$78.00 (+0.7%), $OCBC (O39.SG)$ at S$32.01 (+1.3%) and $UOB (U11.SG)$ at S$42.57 (+0.2%). Over the week the three outperformed the broader market, with OCBC and UOB each up about 1.9% and DBS up 1.4%. Beyond the banks, $Singtel (Z74.SG)$ closed at S$4.28 (+0.7%) and $Singapore Airlines (C6L.SG)$ ended around S$6.65.

The local story to watch is telecom consolidation: $Keppel (BN4.SG)$ and $StarHub (CC3.SG)$ have confirmed they are in talks over M1, a move that could shrink Singapore's mobile operators from four to three. Reports indicate JPMorgan is advising StarHub and DBS Bank is advising Keppel and M1, reviving a sector consolidation theme that had stalled after Simba's S$1.4 billion bid for M1 lapsed in May. Separately, SGX will enforce stricter transparency and shareholder-communication rules from Jan 1, 2027.

Singapore Macro

Singapore's core inflation rose to 2.2% year-on-year in August, up from 2.0% in July, while headline inflation climbed to 2.3%. The pickup was driven by services, food and retail goods, with MAS and MTI flagging high and volatile global energy prices as an import-price risk. That has analysts leaning toward further tightening when MAS meets in October: Nomura expects a 50-basis-point increase in the S$NEER appreciation slope, and others put the odds of another slope steepening at around 70%.

The transmission path matters for SGX readers. A firmer Singapore dollar anchors imported inflation and supports the banks' net-interest-margin story in a steepening-yield environment. But it also keeps financing costs elevated for REITs, which remain the index's most rate-sensitive laggards. If the Fed follows through on a hike in October, the local rate complex stays higher for longer, widening the gap between bank and REIT performance.

Weekend Wrap

Two themes carried through the weekend. On geopolitics, President Trump said he expects more talks with Iran, possibly as early as Monday, even as reports note he earlier rejected a Qatari-brokered peace plan. The prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz was enough to knock WTI down 2.3% to US$92.41 on Friday. On policy, traders now see a 71% chance the Federal Reserve hikes at least 25 basis points in October, up from about 50% earlier in the week, keeping the 10-year yield near 5.18%. China's National Day holiday also begins October 1 this week, which will close A-share trading and thin out northbound flows into Hong Kong.

US Overnight (Friday Close)

US equities closed higher Friday as a pause in the bond selloff and falling oil prices supported risk appetite. The $S&P 500 (SPY.US)$ added 0.51% to 7,743.41, the $Nasdaq Composite (QQQ.US)$ rose 0.48% to 27,068.72, and the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA.US)$ climbed 478.64 points, or 0.93%, to 51,828.62. For the week, the Dow gained 0.3%, the S&P 500 added 1.2% and the Nasdaq rose 2%, despite the 10-year Treasury yield staying near multi-year highs at 5.18%.

Key Movers

$Meta Platforms (META.US)$ — the stock pulled back after a ~13% weekly surge on AI-assistant Muse enthusiasm, falling about 4% in Friday's session after Goldman Sachs questioned whether AI-infrastructure spending can generate adequate returns. The S&P 500 still closed higher, underscoring how narrow the advance remained. $Akamai Technologies (AKAM.US)$ rose 3% after announcing a multiyear deal with Anthropic, one of the session's standouts.

Asia Pre-Market

S&P 500 futures were up about 0.03% and Nasdaq 100 futures up about 0.11% in early Asian trade, while Dow futures were roughly flat. WTI settled Friday at US$92.41 a barrel and spot gold traded near US$4,264 an ounce, down about 0.5%. Bitcoin held around US$84,900, just under the US$85,000 level. The restrained tone reflects a market waiting on Wednesday's US inflation data rather than chasing Friday's bounce. For SGX, the oil pullback is the most supportive signal for energy importers, but the still-strong US dollar and pending MAS decision argue against chasing the yield-sensitive sectors.

This Week's US Earnings and Economic Calendar

The week's standout event is Micron's fiscal Q4 report, which lands the same day as US core PCE and final Q2 GDP. Nike closes out the week with fiscal Q1 results on Thursday.

Earnings Spotlight: $Micron (MU.US)$. Micron reports fiscal Q4 after Wednesday's close. Consensus calls for EPS near US$31.52 on revenue around US$51.1 billion, up roughly 350% year-on-year. The memory supercycle is the story: HBM, DRAM and NAND pricing all remain elevated on AI-data-center demand, and some analysts expect Micron to rival or even exceed $Nvidia (NVDA.US)$ as the single largest contributor to S&P 500 profit growth this quarter. The catch is timing — core PCE and GDP land the same Wednesday morning, so a hot inflation print could cushion any post-earnings move.

One More Thing

The framing that matters this week is the oil-yield axis, not a single stock print. If Hormuz diplomacy delivers, oil extends its retreat, yields can ease and the rotation into risk assets has room to run — with SG banks as the local beta. If talks break down, oil resets higher and the Fed-hike trade reasserts itself, pressuring rate-sensitive REITs harder than the index. Watch WTI first, then the Wednesday core PCE, and use both to judge whether Friday's rebound was broad-based or just a narrow relief rally.

Sources: The Business Times, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal.

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.