DBS, OCBC close at fresh highs as Singapore banks lead STI gains

[SINGAPORE] Shares of DBS and OCBC hit fresh highs on Tuesday (Jun 2), as the trio of local banks ranked among the Straits Times Index’s (STI) top gainers.

DBS, which led the advancers on Singapore’s blue-chip barometer, rose 2.9 per cent or S$1.83 to end the day at S$64.67. OCBC gained 2.9 per cent or S$0.68 to S$24.08. UOB , meanwhile, advanced 2.1 per cent or S$0.80 to S$38.40.

Other STI stocks that rallied on Tuesday were Sats , which closed 2.6 per cent or S$0.10 higher at S$3.95, and Venture Corporation , which rose 2 per cent or S$0.36 to S$18.36.

The rally in Singapore stocks mirrored gains abroad, as Wall Street stocks closed Monday higher amid ongoing US-Iran peace negotiations, with US President Donald Trump saying that talks with Iran would continue.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent to 51,078.88, the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to 7,599.96 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4 per cent to 27,086.81.

Closer to home, regional markets had a mixed showing on Tuesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225, meanwhile, fell 0.3 per cent.

The gains in Singapore followed recent announcements by DBS and OCBC of plans to boost their wealth offerings.

DBS on Monday said that it will launch 18 new and 36 upgraded Asia-Pacific wealth centres by end-2027, while OCBC’s private bank, Bank of Singapore, intends to sharpen its focus on ultra-high-net-worth clients.

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In a May 28 report, RHB said that the continued wealth momentum of local lenders is a tailwind for the sector. The brokerage upgraded its rating on the three Singapore banks to “overweight” from “neutral”.

RHB analysts also cited evolving rate expectations and resilient fee-income generation as fuelling renewed investor interest in the trio of banks.