Our Valentine's Day Gift

There's much to cheer this Valentine's Day.

The cut-off yield for the latest Singapore T-bill auction rebounded to 3.93% p.a.

It seems that some investors decided to switch to putting their money into fixed deposit, after OCBC started offering 3.88% p.a. for a 8-month fixed deposit using CPF OA funds. 

It’s good to see more options available to investors to allow our money to work harder. 

If you’re interested in the OCBC fixed deposit but find it a hassle to wait at the branch, we share how you can avoid the queue with this trick.

🌷Happy Valentine's Day 

What happened? 

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced Budget 2023, his “Valentine’s Day present” to help Singaporeans cope with rising costs. 

What does this mean?

Amongst a slew of handouts announced, all Singaporean households will also get another S$300 in CDC vouchers in January 2024. 

As part of the Assurance Package to allay inflation concerns, eligible Singaporeans will receive between S$200 and S$400 in June 2023.

Lower- to middle-income Singaporeans will receive a higher cash payout to help to offset higher GST expenses

Why should I care? 

The plan to increase handouts by S$3 billion to S$9.6 billion could help to boost consumer spending, and consumption-linked stocks are seen as potential beneficiaries. 

On the other hand, the increase in taxes for properties valued at more than S$1.5 million could potentially impact demand for high-end residential properties. 

🚗 WHAT'S MOVING

• Palantir (PLTR) reported a profit in the fourth quarter, the first profit in the company’s history. The company’s revenue was stronger than expected. 
• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cut its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the fourth quarter by about 86% from the previous quarter.
• DBS reported a record profit of S$2.3 billion in 4Q, above analyst expectation of S$2.16 billion. The company has proposed a special dividend of S$0.50 per share, in addition to a final dividend of S$0.42.
• Sembcorp Marine (SMM) shareholders holding 95.3% of total shares of SMM voted for the merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM). As part of the transaction, Keppel will distribute 19.1 SMM shares for every 1 Keppel shares held. Read our analysis here.

• SATS reversed from 2 quarters of losses to a FY3Q net profit of S$500,000. Excluding government grants and one-off acquisition related expenses, SATS reported an underlying loss due to higher than expected costs incurred.  

Source: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, Business Times, Edge Singapore

💰 PROMO

Open a Webull brokerage account and receive a welcome gift of US$50 to US$500. Read our guide on how to do so in 3 steps:

1) Sign up here.

2) Deposit any amount (even S$1!). You get US$30 to US$300.

3) Maintain your deposit for 30 days. You get US$20 to US$200.

💡 THE BIG IMPORTANT STORY

T-bill yield rebounds to 3.93%: Are fixed deposits driving lower demand?

The total amount of applications fell to S$11 billion in the latest T-bill auction on 16 February.

🤓 WHAT WE’RE LOOKING OUT FOR THIS WEEK

• Monday, 20 Feb: US market holiday
• Tuesday, 21 Feb: Astrea Investor Day 2023, SIA, Wilmar, Sembcorp Industries results
• Wednesday, 22 Feb: Baidu results
• Thursday, 23 Feb: UOB, CapitaLand, Alibaba results 
• Friday, 24 Feb: OCBC, ST Engineering, Venture results

Source: Bloomberg, SGX 

🍭 THAT’S INTERESTING

Grab has launched a new service for Singapore commuters who prefer their ride with limited conversation called “Quiet Ride”. In an announcement on its Facebook page, the ride-hailing company shared “you asked for a bit of quiet, we heard you loud and clear”. The announcement received mixed response from the public, and some drivers said that they prefer a quiet drive to allow them to focus. 

Source: Todayonline