AI rally sends US stocks to new highs: Weekly Market Recap

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the first money lessons many of us learnt at home.

When I was young, my mum would often remind me, “Make sure you have enough for yourself.” At the time, it sounded simple. 

But as I grew older, I realised this was her way of teaching me something deeper. Build your own financial safety net.

As we shared in our webinar on how I’m investing with clarity, financial resilience often starts with building our liquidity pots. 

That is why this month, we look at the best fixed deposit rates and best savings accounts. With the latest T-bill yield staying at 1.4%, we compare the options to find out where we can park our cash more effectively.

With this financial cushion in place, we can then look beyond cash and think about growth opportunities.

For investors looking to grow their wealth over the long term, we look at three SGX-listed ETFs that offer exposure to Asia ex-China growth, especially with the recent resurgence in Japan, Korea and Taiwan markets.

Closer to home, Singapore continues to hold up well too, supported by key themes driving growth in Singapore stocks beyond dividends. As we enter a new month, we look at three of the best performing blue chip stocks in April to understand what led to their outperformance.  

This Mother’s Day, I’m reminded that financial resilience is not just about saving for a rainy day.

It is about building a portfolio that gives us peace of mind when life gets uncertain, while still allowing us to reach for where we want to go.

And perhaps the best way to honour the money lessons we first learnt at home is to keep learning how to invest better.

Happy growing!

Gerald, Founder of Beansprout

⏰ This Week In Markets

📊 AI powered rally

What happened? 

Strong company earnings continued to support global markets this week.

As of 7 May, about 85% of companies in the S&P 500 Index had reported their quarterly results. According to FactSet, close to 85% of these companies delivered earnings that beat consensus expectations.

More importantly, the size of the beat was meaningful. In aggregate, earnings came in about 19% above estimates, giving investors more confidence that corporate profits remain resilient.

What does this mean?

AI remains one of the key themes driving investor optimism.

Micron surged around 38% during the week after the company reiterated strong order visibility for memory chips and CPUs.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also reported strong growth in its data centre business. driven by demand for chips used to power AI infrastructure.

Why should I care?

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted another week of gains, closing at record highs as upbeat technology earnings and guidance lifted market sentiment.

The technology sector remained the key outperformer, with artificial intelligence continuing to drive optimism around future earnings growth.

In Asia, Hang Seng Index also ended the week higher. Gains in technology and consumer stocks were supported by improving sentiment around China’s policy support measures, as well as easing trade tensions.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) was more muted. UOB and OCBC both reported lower net interest income due to margin compression. For OCBC, the decline was partly offset by stronger fee income from its wealth management business.

🚗  Moving This Week

• UOB reported 1Q2026 net profit of S$1.44 billion, down 4% year on year but above the S$1.39 billion consensus estimate. Earnings were weighed by a softer operating environment, with net interest income down 4% as margins narrowed to 1.82%. Net fee income fell 8%, while other non-interest income dropped 17%. Read here for Beansprout’s quick take.
• OCBC reported 1Q net profit of S$1.97 billion, up 5% year on year and above the S$1.88 billion consensus estimate. Earnings were driven by strong wealth management growth, with non-interest income rising 23% to a record S$1.61 billion. This helped offset a 5% decline in net interest income, as margins narrowed to 1.76% in a lower-rate environment. Read here for Beansprout’s quick take.
• OCBC has agreed to acquire the retail and wealth management business of HSBC Indonesia via its subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP. The deal is expected to add about S$6.6 billion in assets under management, including S$4.3 billion in investments and S$2.3 billion in deposits, along with a S$0.3 billion retail loan book. Read more here.
• ST Engineering has secured more than S$100 million worth of smart mobility projects in the Middle East. The contracts were won by its urban solutions business and mark a further expansion of the group’s smart mobility presence in the region. Under one of the projects, ST Engineering will support the operations and maintenance of Qatar’s national intelligent transport system for Ashghal, the country’s Public Works Authority. Read more here
• Hongkong Land shares rose 9.2% on Thursday, following a Bloomberg report that it could be among the bidders for Marina One. The stock closed at its intraday high of S$8.70, with more than nine million shares traded. According to the report, Marina One owner M+S, a joint venture between Temasek and Khazanah Nasional, has priced the asset at about S$5.7 billion. Read more here
• Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust  reported 1H FY2026 revenue of S$238.9 million, up 2.8%, while adjusted NPI rose 3.6% to S$167.0 million. Growth was supported by positive rental reversions, rent reviews in its Australia and Europe logistics & industrial portfolios, full contribution from 2 Tuas South Link 1, and favourable currency movements. This was partly offset by the divestment of 357 Collins Street, higher vacancies at ATP and FBP, and higher land taxes in Australia. DPU came in at 2.95 Singapore cents, lower by 1.7% year-on-year, with payment scheduled for Jun 22, 2026. Read more here
• Sats will acquire an additional 40% stake in Nanjing Weizhou Airline Food Corporation for 312.6 million yuan (S$58 million). This will raise its ownership to 90%, giving Sats operational control of the frozen aviation meal maker. Since Sats first invested in 2019, NWA’s revenue has more than doubled as Chinese airlines increased their use of frozen meals. Read more here
• AIMS APAC REIT reported FY2026 DPU of 9.850 cents, up 2.6% year on year, while distributions to unitholders rose 3.1% to S$80.6 million. Gross revenue increased 2.2% to S$190.7 million, while NPI grew 5.7% to S$141.3 million, supported by positive rental reversions, lower electricity costs and cost efficiencies. Read more here
• Keppel Infrastructure Trust will acquire an additional 39% stake in the Keppel Merlimau Cogen plant on Jurong Island for up to S$128.1 million. The deal will lift KIT’s total interest in the 1,300MW facility to 90%, through the acquisition of Kindle Energy, the holding vehicle for KCIF’s stake in KMC. Read more here
• Parkway Life REIT reported distribution per unit (DPU) at 4.42 cents in 1Q 2026, up 15.1% year-on-year. This is driven by higher income from the Singapore hospitals as the new CPI-linked rent review formula kicking in from FY2026. Read more here

Source: Bloomberg, CNBC, Business Times, Edge Singapore

💡 The Big Important Story

Where to park your cash for higher yield? T-bills vs Fixed Deposit vs SSB (May 2026)

We share the best ways to earn a yield on your cash through Singapore T-bills, fixed deposits, SSBs and money market funds in May 2026.

🤓 What we're looking out for next week

Key dates

• Monday, 11 May: SIA Engineering earnings, DBS Group ex-dividend
• Tuesday, 12 May:  NTT DC REIT earnings, Soilbuild Construction Group ex-dividend, SIAS Corporate Connect : Propnex, US CPI
• Wednesday, 13 May:  OUE Limited ex-dividend, US Production Price Index, Cisco earnings
• Thursday, 14 May: Singapore Airlines, CSE Global earnings, Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust ex-dividend, US retail sales, Applied Materials earnings
• Friday, 15 May: First Resources earnings, AIMS APAC REIT ex-dividend 

Get the full list of stocks with upcoming dividends here. 

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