Singapore banks bucking declines by most other local blue chips, likely supported by fresh official data showing improvement in October bank lending.
According to central bank MAS, overall lending +13.8% on-year, +1.3% on-month at $313.26 billion, with housing loans remaining key driver. OCBC (O39.SG) +1.5% at $9.77, UOB (U11.SG) +0.1% at $18.52, DBS (D05.SG) flat at $13.92 vs STI off 0.3%.
Still, stocks continue to trail broader market year to date as pressure on net interest margins persists due to low interest rates.
But Citigroup says underperformance not warranted; “we view that recently soft net interest margins are close to bottoming and a recovery in business lending should compensate for a peaking of mortgage growth.”
