US Stocks Rally to Record Highs, China Stocks Tumble: Weekly Market Recap

It’s hard not to notice that things have gotten more expensive in Singapore.

Just this week, a friend offered up a pair of Jay Chou concert tickets in our WhatsApp group. The price? Almost S$800 for a pair of Cat 1 tickets. That same night, my parents were reminiscing about Andy Lau’s recent concert, and while they’re usually quite thrifty, they felt the S$800 spent was well worth it to see the ‘heavenly king’ perform after so long.

It got me thinking—enjoying a concert in Singapore these days can cost a significant chunk one’s monthly income. It also reminded me how important it is to plan well for retirement if I want to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, including occasional splurges like concerts.

For the savers out there, there’s some good news this week: the cut-off yield for the 6-month Singapore T-bill has rebounded slightly to 3.06%. We also explore if it’s worth applying for the upcoming 1-year T-bill auction, given this recovery.

On the REITs front, with share prices recovering in recent months, some investors have shared that finding REITs with strong sponsors and decent dividend yields has become more challenging. We’ve identified three Singapore REITs offering dividend yields above 6%.

Personally, I aspire to achieve financial freedom so I can enjoy the things I love without worry. I hope this prompts you to think about what you’re investing for, and how it aligns with your goals too.

Happy growing!

Gerald, Founder of Beansprout

⏰ This Week In Markets

😀 Positive start 

What happened? 

The US earnings season started on a positive note, as banking giant JP Morgan reported stronger than expected revenue and profit for the third quarter.

In the meantime, the Chairman of Foxconn, one of Nvidia’s major suppliers, said that demand for its Blackwell chip was “crazy”.

What does this mean?

These data points reinforced investors’ confidence on the strength of the US economy and continued demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. 

This helped to offset worries about sticky inflation leading to a slower pace of rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, after the US consumer price index (CPI) for September was slightly higher than expected.     

Why should I care? 

The S&P 500 reached an all-time high as concerns about a US recession eased. 

However, China stocks fell after the country’s economic planning agency disappointed investors with little new stimulus announced at its press conference this week. 

Government bond yields continued to bounce as investors moderated their expectations of Fed rate cuts. 

Singapore REITs fell with higher bond yields, with losses led by CapitaLand China Trust, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Suntec REIT. Read our Singapore REIT weekly watch to find out more. 

🚗  Moving This Week

• Capitaland Ascott Trust divests Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto in Japan for JPY6.18bn, at 40.1% above book and an exit EBITDA yield of about 0.3%. It will book net disposal gain of S$8.0m.
• ESR-Logos REIT launches a preferential offering of 4 for 100 units at S$0.305, above the last close of S$0.275, to raise S$94m. ESR Group Ltd undertakes to subscribe up to S$88.2m, and Ivanhoe Cambridge Asia will be issued up to S$5.8m of consideration units.
• Frasers Hospitality Trust no longer qualify as a withholding managed investment trust status in Australia after TCC Assets raised its effective stake to more than 10%. This would imply pro-forma decline in FY23 distributable income of S$1.3m or 2.5%, and net asset value of S$22m or 1.7%. Distributions will be subjected to withholding tax of 37.5%, from current 15%. 
• SGX September total market turnover rose 5% year on year in volume and 75% in value. Securities daily average volume was flat while value rose 67% to S$1.4bn. 
• Top Glove reported 4Q24 net loss of RM3.6m, a reversal from net profit of RM50.7m in 3Q24 due to stronger RM against US$. It announced a bonus warrant issue of 1 warrant for 20 existing shares exercisable at RM1.09. 

Source: Bloomberg, CNBC, Business Times, Edge Singapore

💡 The big important story

Is the 1-year T-bill better than the 6-month T-bill and fixed deposits?

The closing yield on the 1-year Singapore T-bill of 3.04% is comparable to the 6-month T-bill. However, investors of the 1-year T-bill may face lower re-investment risks.

🤓 What we're looking out for next week

• Monday, 14 Oct: Singapore GDP data
• Tuesday, 15 Oct: Citi earnings
• Wednesday, 16 Oct: Morgan Stanley earnings
• Thursday, 17 Oct: Singapore 1-year T-bill auction, Netflix earnings
• Friday, 18 Oct: Keppel DC REIT earnings

Check out the full list of Singapore stocks, REITs and ETFs with upcoming dividend payments with our dividend calendar.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg, Refinitiv

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