THE Singapore bourse is set for a busy week ahead with a deluge of earnings and central bank meetings in the spotlight, along with the release of key US macro data, chiefly its employment numbers.

Geopolitics will be in focus as foreign ministers from Asean and its partners meet in Singapore from July 30 to Aug 4. Singapore's bank lending and monetary aggregates data will be out on Tuesday followed by July's purchasing managers index (PMI) on Thursday. Also due on Thursday are the Bank of England's monetary policy decision and its inflation report.

Within Singapore, the first two of three banks will release their earnings scorecard this week with analysts expecting strong results. DBS will be the first to report its second quarter results on Thursday, followed by UOB on Friday. OCBC announces results on Aug 6. IG market strategist Pan Jingyi noted that the banks, which take up the lion's share on the Straits Times Index, will likely drive the index, and possibly away from the gravitational pull at around the 3,300 level.