Oil prices jumped about 2% after U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns about global energy supply disruptions. President Donald Trump claimed U.S. destroyers were unharmed and described the response as limited.
Earlier Thursday, major indexes pulled back from record highs:
S&P 500: -0.38%
Nasdaq: -0.13%
Dow Jones: -0.63%
Markets were also reacting to comments from an Iranian official rejecting U.S. plans regarding the Strait of Hormuz and demanding reparations.
Investors are now focused on Friday’s unemployment and payroll data. Economists expect modest job growth of 55,000 and unemployment to remain at 4.3%.
Analysts still expect strong earnings growth through the rest of 2026. Companies reporting earnings Friday include Toyota Motor, AMC Networks, Wendy’s, and Brookfield Asset Management.

Akamai Technologies surged 25% after announcing a $1.8B cloud services commitment and strong earnings.
JFrog jumped 17% on upbeat full-year profit guidance.
Gen Digital rose 8% after strong revenue and earnings guidance.
Block climbed 8% on better-than-expected earnings forecasts.
Texas Roadhouse gained 6% thanks to strong sales and earnings growth.
Rocket Lab rose 3% after strong revenue, record backlog, and new contracts.
Trade Desk fell 14% after weak revenue guidance and missed earnings.
Cloudflare dropped 14% after announcing layoffs and softer guidance.
Figs slid 15% despite a slight earnings beat.
SoundHound AI fell 11% due to larger-than-expected losses.
CoreWeave dropped 10% after disappointing revenue guidance.
Coinbase Global lost 5% after reporting a surprise quarterly loss.
Airbnb beat revenue estimates but missed earnings expectations.
Lyft missed earnings estimates despite slightly stronger revenue.

Raffles Education reports profit after tax of $24.2 mil for 9MFY2026, surge 274% y-o-y

CapitaLand Investment, Singapore Retailers Association ink MOU to support S’pore retailers entering JB

Avi-Tech changes hands with founder Lim selling stake to Global Wave Venture

AIMS APAC REIT reports FY2026 DPU of 9.85 cents, 2.6% higher y-o-y

SingPost partners Europe’s Asendia to enhance cross-border e-commerce delivery

ST Engineering unit bags Middle East smart mobility projects worth over S$100 million

Aims Apac Reit H2 DPU rises 4.1% to S$0.0513 on higher rental, recoveries

Hongkong Land shares jump 9.2% after report of possible Marina One bid

StarHub Q1 net profit tumbles 81.3% to S$5.9 million as consumer business slides across the board

United Overseas Bank (UOB) plans to double its wealth management income by 2030, focusing on organic growth, customer relationships, and disciplined expansion rather than aggressive asset gathering.
CEO Wee Ee Cheong said UOB’s wealth income rose 18% year-on-year from S$698 million in FY2024 to S$822 million in FY2025. The bank sees strong long-term opportunities as wealth in Asia continues growing.
Unlike rivals:
DBS Group is aggressively hiring for wealth management.
OCBC Bank is expanding via acquisitions, including buying HSBC Indonesia’s retail and wealth business.
UOB is taking a more cautious approach, prioritizing customer trust and long-term loyalty over short-term fee income. The bank is open to acquisitions but only if they fit strategically and financially.
UOB also warned that Middle East tensions could indirectly affect SMEs and industries sensitive to energy prices, though direct exposure remains limited. The bank is conducting stress tests and monitoring economic risks closely.
Despite competitors reducing risk exposure in markets like India and Indonesia, UOB said it will continue supporting SMEs and consumers rather than “de-risking” during uncertain conditions.

whatapp me asap if you are keen to subscibe for the IPO:
JustCo has filed for a Mainboard IPO on the Singapore Exchange after growing from a single office in 2011 to 54 co-working centres across 12 Asia-Pacific cities.
The company plans aggressive expansion over the next three years through its three brands:
The Boring Office (budget workspace)
JustCo (premium brand)
The Collective (luxury concept)
Executive chairman Kong Wan Sing aims to expand into India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.
IPO proceeds will fund major workspace expansion, adding nearly 1 million sq ft of leasable area across FY2026–FY2027.
JustCo is backed by major investors including:
GIC (29.06%)
Frasers Property (22.52%)
The company returned to profitability in FY2025, posting a US$2.7 million profit versus a US$10.1 million loss a year earlier, while revenue rose 12.5% to US$144.2 million.
DBS Group and UBS are leading the IPO process.

CK Hutchison Holdings is considering selling more telecom assets after its US$5.8 billion sale of its UK mobile business stake, as the group shifts toward a “cash is king” strategy amid economic uncertainty.
The company, founded by Li Ka-shing and now led by his son Victor Li, is building a large cash reserve to navigate geopolitical tensions, trade risks, and rapid technological change.
CK Hutchison and affiliates have announced around US$20 billion in UK asset sales this year.
The group may also list telecom or retail assets to raise more capital.
Telecom earnings have weakened due to high depreciation costs and intense competition requiring heavy investment in next-generation networks.
Despite the sales, CK Hutchison still operates telecom businesses across Europe, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Analysts say the company is becoming more “asset-light” and prioritizing liquidity. Its cash holdings rose to HK$143.7 billion by end-2025.
Management believes strong cash reserves will create flexibility for future opportunities, especially during volatile global conditions.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) reported a strong Q1 2026 performance, with net profit rising 5% year-on-year to S$1.97 billion, beating analyst expectations of S$1.88 billion.
Net interest income fell 5% to S$2.2 billion due to lower interest rates and a narrower net interest margin (1.76% vs 2.04% last year).
Non-interest income jumped 23% to a record S$1.61 billion.
Wealth management fees surged 34% to S$422 million, driven by stronger customer activity across wealth products.
The non-performing loan ratio stayed stable at 0.9%.
Total allowances increased slightly by 2% to S$216 million, mainly from higher provisions for non-impaired assets.
Group CEO Tan Teck Long said the bank’s growing wealth business helped offset weaker interest income in a low-rate environment. He also warned that geopolitical tensions, Middle East conflict risks, inflation, and global trade tariffs continue to create uncertainty.
The results conclude earnings season for Singapore’s three major banks, following DBS and UOB. Earlier in May, OCBC also announced that its Indonesian subsidiary would acquire HSBC’s retail and wealth management operations in Indonesia as part of its regional wealth expansion strategy.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust’s acquisition of Paragon highlights a growing trend in Singapore’s REIT sector: larger REITs have major advantages in buying, upgrading, and consolidating assets, especially in a challenging economic environment.
Rising inflation and interest rates are pressuring smaller REITs, making investors favor larger, more resilient players with stronger balance sheets and premium assets.
CICT’s purchase of Paragon from Cuscaden Peak shows how large REITs can better absorb costly asset enhancement initiatives (AEIs). Paragon may require upgrades costing S$300–600 million, which would have heavily impacted smaller REIT distributions.
CICT is less concerned because Paragon is only part of its diversified portfolio, and it has strong financial capacity after selling Asia Square Tower 2 for S$2.5 billion.
The deal also improves returns, as CICT redeploys capital from a lower-yield office asset into a higher-yield freehold integrated development.
More REIT privatizations and mergers
More consolidation led by large property groups such as CapitaLand, Frasers Property, and Hongkong Land
Smaller or weaker REITs being repositioned, merged, or taken private
Examples include:
Frasers Hospitality Trust being taken private
Strategic reshuffling involving CapitaLand China Trust and Suntec REIT
Growing speculation around future mergers involving major REITs like CICT, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, and CapitaLand Ascendas REIT
The broader conclusion is that bigger REITs with stronger Singapore-focused assets may be essential to keeping Singapore’s REIT market competitive and attractive to investors.

Hong Kong stocks rallied strongly after reports that the US and Iran agreed to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for easing US maritime restrictions, boosting global market sentiment.
HSI rose 1.6% (up 412 points) to 26,626

• HSCEI gained 1.4%
• HSTECH surged 3.1%
• Total turnover reached HKD312.5 billion
• Tencent rose 3.1%
• Alibaba jumped 5%
• Kuaishou climbed 7.6%
• Baidu gained 4.3%
• Semiconductor and AI-related names such as SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and Biren Tech posted strong gains
• Fiber-optic and AI infrastructure stocks rose after news that Nvidia invested in Corning to support fiber infrastructure development
• Auto and robotics stocks advanced, including Li Auto, XPeng, and Dobot
• Insurance and property shares also gained broadly
• Techtronic Industries surged 10.3% after JPMorgan raised its target price, citing AI data center opportunities
• Johnson Electric jumped 20%
• Chow Tai Fook rose 7.3% after forecasting up to 55% profit growth
• Oil producers PetroChina and CNOOC fell 8.5% and 5.8%
• Coal stocks also declined as energy supply concerns eased with the Hormuz reopening news

Meanwhile, investor attention was drawn to reports that prominent investor Duan Yongping switched his holdings from China Shenhua into Pop Mart, whose shares rose 3.8%.

SD Guthrie posted a slightly lower Q1 2026 net profit of RM560 million (vs RM567 million last year) as weaker upstream plantation earnings weighed on results. Revenue fell 2.6%.
Lotte Chemical Titan narrowed its quarterly loss to RM122.7 million, helped by better petrochemical margins and stronger contributions from its Indonesia ethylene project. Revenue surged 70%.

• Pavilion REIT reported strong Q1 growth:
  • Net property income rose 11.3%
  • Revenue increased 7.8%
  • Distribution per unit improved to 2.80 sen
    Growth was driven by newly acquired hotels and stronger retail performance.
• Pentamaster saw Q1 profit jump 37% as demand for factory automation solutions accelerated.
• Dufu Technology posted a 9.4% increase in profit thanks to stronger hard disk drive component demand, though margins were pressured by the stronger ringgit.
• Maybulk swung into a RM52.9 million quarterly loss due mainly to foreign currency translation losses after liquidating a subsidiary.
• GuocoLand Malaysia recorded its first quarterly loss in four years because of inventory write-downs and lower-margin property sales, despite a 57% jump in revenue.
• Sime Darby appointed Abdul Rahman Ahmad as chairman again, marking his return after previously holding the role in 2019–2020.
• CIMB Group named outgoing Standard Chartered Malaysia CEO Mak Joon Nien as CEO of growth markets and CIMB Singapore.
• AirAsia X placed a massive US$19 billion order for 150 Airbus A220-300 jets, with options for 150 more. Deliveries begin in 2028 and support regional expansion and fleet replacement.
• Niche Capital Emas Holdings is exploring a partnership with Greensnow Consolidated to develop a full rare earth supply chain in Malaysia, including mining and processing.
• Reneuco will be delisted from Bursa Malaysia on May 12 after failing to submit a restructuring plan under PN17 requirements.

Thank you