• STI closed at 5,709.91 on Wednesday, down 13.85 points (-0.24%); OCBC and Seatrium were the main drags.
• Banks diverged: $DBS (D05.SG)$ ended at S$77.69 (-0.14%), $OCBC (O39.SG)$ at S$31.65 (-1.52%) and $UOB (U11.SG)$ at S$42.84 (+0.09%).
• Wall Street eased overnight after traders lifted October Fed-hike odds to 69%; the 10-year Treasury yield stayed near 5% and gold tumbled 1.85%.
• Thursday queue: Darden reports pre-market (8.30pm SGT) and Costco after the close; US jobless claims land at 8.30pm SGT.

Singapore Open

The Straits Times Index eased 0.24% on Wednesday to 5,709.91, pulling back modestly from recent record territory as $OCBC (O39.SG)$ and Seatrium weighed. The three local lenders diverged: $DBS (D05.SG)$ slipped 0.14% to S$77.69, $UOB (U11.SG)$ nudged up 0.09% to S$42.84, while OCBC fell 1.52% to S$31.65. Elsewhere on the blue-chip board, $Singapore Airlines (C6L.SG)$ added 0.76% to S$6.62, while $Singtel (Z74.SG)$ eased 0.93% to S$4.28.

Singapore Macro

MAS's July statement remains the cleanest local frame. Singapore's Q2 GDP surprised at 5.7% year-on-year, and core inflation is projected to rise into Q3 and stay elevated into H2 2027. After April's tightening — the first since 2022 — the September MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters shows 45% of respondents now expect another S$NEER slope increase at the October review, up from 30% previously, with 2026 core inflation pegged at 2.0%. The transmission for SGX: the October decision is the next local macro catalyst. A steeper appreciation path is a deliberate shield against imported energy inflation from the Hormuz-related oil shock. The wildcard is crude itself — Brent has retreated below $100 after six straight losing sessions, easing near-term imported-price pressure. If that slide holds, the case for aggressive October tightening softens, supporting bank net-interest margins and REIT financing costs.

US Overnight

The S&P 500 fell 0.72%, the Dow 0.71% and the Nasdaq 100 0.84% as traders repriced a 69% chance of an October Federal Reserve rate hike, per CME FedWatch, while Fed governor Michael Barr pushed for further tightening to control inflation. The 10-year yield hovered near 4.9-5.0%, around one-year highs. Key movers: $Nvidia (NVDA.US)$ lost about 1.4% as its record run paused — a mix of macro pressure and renewed worry that Google's TPUs and other in-house silicon are cutting Big Tech's dependence on its AI chips, even as Anthropic signs large supply deals. $Alphabet (GOOGL.US)$ dropped 3.29% (the Class C line roughly 3.5%) as Meta's Muse AI agent stoked fears of disrupted search-driven ad revenue, despite Google's new Gemini 3.8 text-to-speech launch. $McDonald's (MCD.US)$ fell 4.81% to $238.32 after mapping a 50-55% operating-margin target by 2030 with heavy restaurant investment, while $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ rose 1.71% on Muse hype.

Asia Pre-Market

US equity futures were little changed early Thursday, with S&P 500 futures roughly flat and Nasdaq futures marginally lower; the slide in oil and Washington's read that US-Iran talks were productive helped offset rate-hike anxiety, though Thursday-specific futures data was thin at writing. WTI traded around $89.6-90 a barrel after Wednesday's 0.97% dip, with Brent below $100 near $99. Gold slid 1.85% to about $4,278 an ounce as the dollar firmed — the $SPDR Gold Shares (GLD.US)$ ETF closed at $392.88, down about 1.8%. Bitcoin traded near $85,800, down less than 1%.

Today's US Earnings and Economic Calendar

Earnings Spotlight: $Costco (COST.US)$ reports Q4 FY2026 after Thursday's close. Consensus calls for about $6.55 adjusted EPS on $94.85 billion revenue, up 10% year-on-year. Watch membership-fee income and whether tariff-related costs trim margins — Oppenheimer flags a possible miss once government tariff refunds are excluded. The print lands the same day as jobless claims and new-home sales, with August durable goods following on Friday.

One More Thing

Don't outsource the macro call to Wall Street. The overnight selloff is a repricing of the Fed path, not a read on Singapore. The cleaner local question ahead of October's MAS review: does oil keep deflating? Six straight losing sessions for Brent — now below $100 — are quietly reducing the imported-inflation pressure that would otherwise force a steeper S$NEER slope. If crude holds its break lower, the rate-sensitive part of SGX (banks and REITs) gets a tailwind; if Hormuz risk re-escalates, expect MAS to lean hawkish. Separate global Fed noise from Singapore's own currency-led policy path, and the next SGX move becomes easier to read.

Sources: MAS Monetary Policy Statement (July 2026), MAS Survey of Professional Forecasters (September 2026), Trading Economics, TheStreet.

This briefing is compiled with AI assistance from market data and wire reports, and reviewed by the Longbridge editorial team before publication.

This briefing is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.