To The Moon

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Wednesday. STI rose 0.22%; Comwell Reit SGD rose 1.8%; OCBC Bank rose 1.2%; $DBS Group(D05.SI)$ rose 0.8%; $NIO(NIO.SI)$ fell 1.9%; $Sheng Siong(OV8.SI)$ fell 1.2%.

Stocks to Watch

$OCBC Bank(O39.SI)$: Oversea-Chinese Banking bought back 273,000 shares in the open market on Monday for SG$4.6 million or SG$16.76 apiece, a filing with the Singapore Exchange said on the same day. The bank has been authorized to buy back up to 225.0 million shares under its current mandate. To date it has repurchased 11.3 million shares.

$Singapore Post(S08.SI)$ (SingPost): Its former chief executive Vincent Phang and former chief financial officer Vincent Yik on Tuesday (Jan 7) said they are prepared to forgo their litigation option in favour of an independent professional inquiry. This follows the Securities Investors Association (Singapore)’s call for an independent inquiry into the circumstances that led to the Dec 21 firing of three senior executives – Phang, Yik and the former chief executive of SingPost’s international business unit Li Yu – over negligence in handling investigations of a whistle-blower’s report. Shares of SingPost closed 0.9 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.555, after the news.

$Centurion(OU8.SI)$: It is exploring the establishment of a real estate investment trust (Reit) comprising some of its workers and student accommodation assets. If a Reit is established, it will be listed on the Singapore Exchange’s mainboard, subject to the approval of the bourse and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said the accommodation assets operator on Tuesday. The counter closed S$0.015 or 1.6 per cent higher at S$0.96, before the announcement.

SG Local News

Singapore, Malaysia Ink Deal Creating New Vast Economic Zone

The leaders of Malaysia and Singapore formalized an agreement establishing a special economic zone linking their two nations’ border region, with the aim of attracting 50 projects in the first five years of its establishment.

Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong officiated a ceremony on Tuesday for the economic zone in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor — which shares one of the world’s busiest border crossings with Singapore. The signing was postponed to January after Wong contracted Covid.

“It’s an important project which was built on the complementary structure of Singapore and Johor so that we can both be more competitive, enhance our value proposition and jointly attract more investments to our shores,” Wong said in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital.

Singapore Engages Australia to Study Social Media Age Limits

Singapore’s government is open to instituting minimum-age laws for social media use and is in talks with counterparts in Australia over the matter, an official said on Tuesday.

Australia in November passed legislation banning people younger than 16 from social networks like Facebook, establishing some of the most stringent internet usage restrictions outside of China. Under those rules, tech companies will be responsible for enforcing the ban, with the threat of fines of up to A$50 million ($31.3 million) if they fail to take action.

“The stated objective of legislating age limits for social media access is to protect children and youths from its harms,” Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam told Singapore’s parliament. “We share the same objective and will continue to study the effectiveness of mandating age limits.”