A little light can make a big difference. 🪔

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Sometimes, it’s a kind word, a helping hand, or simply making time for someone.

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Deepavali is a lovely reminder that small gestures can brighten someone’s day. And here in Singapore, we don’t have to celebrate the same festival to share in the joy.

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To all my friends, clients and colleagues celebrating, Happy Deepavali! Wishing you and your loved ones light, laughter and good health.

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Enjoy the celebrations, the food, and most of all, the company. 😊

That was the interesting part of Friday’s sell-off. AI worries rattled markets across Asia, while our STI fell 117 points.

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Japan, South Korea and Taiwan had benefited strongly from the AI boom, especially their chip stocks. After such a strong run, investors are asking: all this money going into AI, when do the profits catch up?

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Fair question. A promising business can still come with a share price that expects too much.

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Back home, our banks were under pressure. Their results raised concerns over slower earnings growth and interest margins. When all three heavyweights fall together, the STI feels it.

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I don’t think the AI story is over. But investors now want more evidence that the spending will pay off. Our banks are still on a solid footing too, even if growing profits gets harder from here.

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That was the distinction I wanted to bring across in Lianhe Zaobao. Expectations are being adjusted, which isn’t quite the same as businesses falling apart.

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For now, I’m watching whether bank shares can settle down. When the screen turns red, the question I keep coming back to is: has the business outlook changed enough to justify the fall?

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https://www.zaobao.com.sg/finance/singapore/story20261106-9959682

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Thank you, Lewis Ong, Senior Business News Correspondent at Lianhe Zaobao (早报财经新闻，资深高级记者王阳发), for the thoughtful conversation and for including my views.

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞t 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 *6/11/26*

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STI: 5296 (+27) | HSI: 24796 (+887) | Dow: 51,523 (-1,833) | S&P: 7,354 (-335) | Nasdaq: 24,315 (-1,422)

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*US Markets Overnight*

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*Yesterday’s Cheers, Today’s Tears!*

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Wah biang! What a difference a day makes on Wall Street! Just when investors thought the US midterm election results had given the market something to cheer about, the mood changed completely. Wednesday’s impressive rally turned into a brutal selloff, with the Dow plunging 1,833 points, or 3.4%, S&P 500 losing 4.4%, and Nasdaq tumbling 5.5%. The S&P suffered its worst session since April 2025. Talk about a 24-hour mood swing!

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So what went wrong? Interestingly, the same election results that initially excited investors are now creating fresh concerns. With Democrats gaining control of Congress, there are worries that tighter scrutiny and possible restrictions on new data centres could slow down AI infrastructure investments. And that could have a significant impact on companies supplying chips, servers and other equipment. Nvidia plunged nearly 9%, AMD lost around 16%, while Micron and other semiconductor stocks also took a beating.

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Here’s the irony. Just a few weeks ago, investors were worried that technology companies were spending too much money on AI. Now they are also worried that political pressure could slow down that spending! Quite a dilemma, isn’t it?

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The selling spread beyond chipmakers to AI infrastructure companies, while Tesla and other growth stocks also came under pressure. This wasn’t simply a few heavyweight stocks dragging down the indices. Market breadth was poor, suggesting investors were reducing risk more broadly.

There were some bright spots, though. *AppLovin* surged more than 30% following strong earnings and an encouraging outlook, showing that investors are still willing to reward companies delivering results. Meanwhile, Brent crude rebounded towards US$98, after Wednesday’s sharp plunge, while the 10-year Treasury yield eased to around 4.84% as investors sought some safety in bonds.

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Some encouraging news after the closing bell. Cloudflare jumped around 18% in after-hours trading after reporting strong revenue growth and raising its outlook, helped by demand for cloud and security services. Looking ahead, tonight’s US October jobs report will be another important test. .

After this week’s roller-coaster, I suspect investors wouldn’t mind a little less excitement! 😅

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*What’s Brewing Today*

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*OCBC, Holding Up Better Than Expected?*

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OCBC ( $OCBC Bank(O39.SI)) rounded off the local bank earnings season with a reasonably encouraging set of results! 3Q net profit rose 3% to S$2.04 billion, supported by record banking profit, up 16%. Loans grew 14%, deposits increased 12%, while asset quality remained healthy with an NPL ratio of just 0.8%. Not everything was rosy, though, as weaker investment income from Great Eastern weighed on overall earnings. Still, the core banking business appears to be holding up well. With all three banks having reported, the question now is (1) will OCBC survive the negative market sentiment from Wall Street overnight? (2) whether the “buy-banks-sell-tech” kinda pattern we see yesterday will aid OCBC? (3) whether their underlying resilience can help restore some confidence in our banking stocks!

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Plenty of questions to answer. 🤔

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*Happening Today*

SG Earnings:

— OCBC^, Singpost^, FLCT^

SG XD:

— Lincotrade: SGD 0.009

— Mapletree PanAsia Com Tr: SGD 0.0194

— NSL: SGD 0.03

— Teho Intl: SGD 0.001

— Zheneng Jinjiang: SGD 0.022

SG:

— Retail Sales (MoM) / Retail Sales (YoY)

EU:

— German Industrial Production (MoM) / Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) / Eurozone Retail Sales (YoY)

US:

— Nonfarm Payrolls / Unemployment Rate / Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) / Average Hourly Earnings (YoY)

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*SG Stock News*

🤔— *OCBC* 3Q26 net profit rose 3% YoY to S$2.04b, supported by record banking profit (+16%), although weaker Great Eastern investment income weighed on overall performance; loans grew 14%, deposits rose 12%, while asset quality improved with NPL ratio at 0.8%.

https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/OCBC_3Q26_Results_Highlights.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=910571⁠

— *SingPost* 1HFY27 revenue dipped 1.3% YoY to S$185.9m, but operating profit rose 42.3% to S$8.1m and underlying net profit doubled to S$11.5m; net profit surged 183.7% to S$55.9m, boosted by property disposal gains, while interim dividend increased 88% to 0.15 cent.

https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/SPL_1HFY2027_ResultsPresentation.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=910567⁠

🤔— *AvePoint* 3Q26 revenue rose 19% YoY to US$131.1m, driven by 26% growth in SaaS revenue to US$105.5m, while annual recurring revenue climbed 27% to US$495.1m; raised its FY2026 ARR guidance to US$524.8m to US$528.8m.

https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/AvePoint%20Q3%202026%20Financial%20Results%20Press%20Release.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=910563⁠

— *United Overseas Insurance* 9M26 insurance revenue fell 7.4% YoY to S$79.4m, but net insurance service and financial results improved 57% to S$8.0m, while total comprehensive income plunged 80% to S$8.1m on weaker investment gains.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/46S80COH9VD035OZ/910491_Announcement%20of%203Q26%20Financial%20Highlights.pdf

— *CSE Global* issued a further update on its ongoing strategic review, with the latest developments and any potential transaction details still to be verified.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/HLB8M72VXBAQUA5X/910481_CSE%20-%20Update%20on%20SR_Nov.pdf

❗— *Far East Orchard* 9M26 net profit declined YoY due to the absence of S$24.9m one-off gains and softer UK student accommodation performance, while hospitality remained stable; increased its stake in Far East Hospitality Trust managers to 75% to grow recurring income.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/S4GSCLM6CU96DRKC/910505_FarEastOrchard-Business_Performance_Update.pdf

‼️— *Trans-China Automotive* 9M26 revenue fell 25.8% YoY to RMB1.07b, with vehicle sales down 28% amid weak Chinese demand and its Guangzhou BMW dealership closure, while comparable-store after-sales revenue grew 2.1%; the group continues to face negative equity and a working capital deficit.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/1TXCH6P8B1R227BY/910533_TCA%20Business%20Update%209M2026.pdf

‼️— *World Precision Machinery* issued a profit warning, expecting to report a net loss for both 3Q26 and FY2026, with further details to be released alongside its quarterly results on 11 November.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/4TMRD34AJ8SFYPUM/910495_WPM%20-%20Profit%20Guidance%20for%203Q2026%20and%20FY2026.pdf

‼️— *Ascent Bridge* expects a net loss for 1HFY2027 due to weaker revenue from duty-free markets in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, alongside slower export sales, partially offset by inventory sales related to its MTBL Cultural Centre disposal.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/RK213KXQPEXVHK7T/910515_ABL%20-%201HFY2027%20PROFIT%20GUIDANCE_FINAL.pdf

🤔— *TOTM Technologies* formed a 50:50 joint venture with ClaudeLabs, an Anthropic ecosystem partner, to provide AI consultancy, implementation and integration services to enterprise and government clients, expanding its commercial AI business.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/W6SCCRJPI7UKNUNU/910536_05112026_SGX%20Announcement_ENTRY%20INTO%20STRATEGIC%20COLLABORATION%20AND%20JOINT%20VENTURE%20AGREEMENT.pdf

— *Ellipsiz* restructured its indoor golf simulator business, leasing equipment at Orchid Country Club for S$8,000 monthly and suspending certain Downtown East fees, but expects a one-off write-off of about S$800,000 in FY2027.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/Q9WYVZHB75HWQE5U/910479_Annc%20-%20Restructuring%20of%20indoor%20golf%20simulator%20centres%20business.pdf

— *Hyphens Pharma* announced the European launch of its Cerapro MED skin barrier cream, expanding its proprietary dermatology business under an earlier licensing agreement covering six European countries.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/QGRHJ2H9719N3OG7/910482_Media-Release_Cerapro-MED-launches-Europe.pdf

— *Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments* is working towards resuming trading after securing a waiver of US2mdebt,restructuringS4.64m of borrowings with an 85% reduction, and obtaining additional funding, while exploring potential acquisitions or a reverse takeover.

https://links.sgx.com/1.0.0/corporate-announcements/SOQC07512X6PA80V/910529_APSI%20-%20Update%20announcement.pdf

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*Earnings calendar:*

11/11 - Valuetronic^, SATS, SIA, NTTDC, Prime US REIT, World Precision

12/11 - Sasseur REIT^, Asian Pay TV, GoldenAgri, SERT, EC World, CSE Global

13/11 - Singtel^, UHREIT^, Daiwa^, Frasers Property, KSH

19/11 - Seatrium^

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Rgds, Dan

https://www.phillip.com.sg/talktophillip/danccs/

https://tinyurl.com/dan-disclaimer