Stocks near record highs while T-bill yield falls: Weekly Market Recap

It was great catching up with many of you at our Beansprout community gathering this week!

During our discussion, we asked what you’d like to see more of at Beansprout. and CPF and retirement planning related content came up as key topics of interest. 

Interestingly, I also came across a new report this week which shared that a 65-year-old retiree in Singapore should target S$550,000 to S$1.3 million as retirement savings. 

This got me thinking about how crucial it is to start investing early to reach our retirement targets. 

One of the highlights of the report is that younger investors who have a longer time horizon can work your money harder with equities compared to bonds.

This is especially timely as yields on 6-month T-bills have dipped to just 2.9%. In our latest comparison of the best places to park our savings, it has become clear that the best fixed deposit rates and savings accounts rates are falling as well. 

Equities, or stocks, are often seen as higher-risk investments. However, they can be an important asset class to help grow your wealth over time. 

Take Singapore STI as an example - it delivered an average annual return of 9.5% from 2009 to 2023. The US S&P 500 index delivered an even more impressive average annual return of 14.9% over this period!

With time and compounding, these investments can help us build a stronger retirement nest egg. Most importantly, the earlier you start investing, the more opportunities you give your money to grow.

Happy growing!

Gerald, Founder of Beansprout

⏰ This Week In Markets

💰 Tariff relief

What happened? 

US President Donald Trump has decided to delay the implementation of new tariffs. 

Instead, he introduced a "fair and reciprocal trade plan," which may lead to country-specific reciprocal tariffs by April 1 after further evaluation. 

What does this mean?

Investors reacted positively to the announcement, interpreting it as a postponement of further tariffs and a chance for negotiations between the U.S. and its trade partners. 

This optimism overshadowed the impact of strong inflation data, where the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.0% in January year-over-year, surpassing market expectations.

Why should I care? 

Global stocks surged, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ending the week just slightly below their all-time highs. 

Similarly, Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) hit a record high this week, propelled by strong earnings from DBS.

Chinese tech stocks rallied on continued optimism after DeepSeek's artificial intelligence (AI) breakthrough.

Earlier, we shared an outlook for the US stock market and Singapore stock market for 2025. 

If you are new to investing in stocks, check out our guides to how you can gain diversified exposure in a low cost way through S&P 500 ETFs, STI ETFs and China ETFs. 

🚗  Moving This Week

• DBS reported a net profit of S$2.62 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, a 10% increase from the previous year. The company proposed a final dividend of 60 cents per share for the fourth quarter, an increase from 54 cents paid out for the same quarter a year ago. In addition, DBS plans to introduce a capital return dividend of 15 cents per share per quarter to be paid out over financial year 2025. Read our analysis here.
• Cuscaden Peak, the sponsor of Paragon REIT, is offering to privatise the REIT at 98 cents per unit, a premium over the Feb 10 closing price of 89 cents. In addition, the REIT will pay 2HFY2024 cash distribution of 2.33 cents. Read our analysis here.
• SGX’s share price fell Citi Research downgraded the stock to sell on expectations that the recent optimism over the potential impact of the equities market review group may unwind. This came after the MAS equities market review group proposed to introduce tax incentives to spur more listings and investments in the local equities market, in its first set of measures announced. A fuller update on the review group’s first set of measures will be provided on Feb 21. Read more here.
• Seatrium has signed an MOU with BP for the construction of a second floating production unit (FPU) to be deployed in the US. This follows a contract for the Kaskida FPU from BP announced in December last year. Read more here.
• Digital Core REIT reported a distribution per unit (DPU) of US$0.018 for the six months ended Dec 31, 2024, up 1.1 per cent from the year-ago period. Read more here.
• Elite UK REIT reported that its 2H24 Distribution Per Unit (DPU) rose 5.8% year-on-year (YoY) to 1.47 pence. Elite UK REIT announced a portfolio valuation of £416.2 mn as at 31 December 2024, 0.5% higher than its valuation as at 30 June 2024. Read our analysis 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 (Feb 2025)

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

🤓 What we're looking out for next week

• Monday, 17 Feb: Elite UK REIT Ex-Dividend
• Tuesday, 18 Feb: Astrea Investor Day 2025 – An event by Azalea, Singapore Budget 2025, Paragon REIT Ex-Dividend
• Wednesday, 19 Feb: UOB earnings, Digital Core REIT Ex-Dividend, First REIT Ex-Dividend, Far East Hospitality Trust Ex-Dividend
• Thursday, 20 Feb: SIA, Genting Singapore earnings, US FOMC meeting minutes
• Friday, 21 Feb: Seatrium, SATS, Venture 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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