Bank earnings will be in the spotlight for the rest of the week. DBS Group and United Overseas Bank will both report earnings before the market opens on Thursday. OCBC will report earnings on Friday morning.
Investors were disappointed last week when Singapore's financial regulator called on local banks to cap FY20 dividends at 60 per cent of the amount paid in the previous financial year, and offer scrip dividends in lieu of cash. But"mandating prudence on capital usage is largely in line with regulators’ cautious stance globally, reflecting the extent of the pandemic’s impact", wrote Bank of Singapore analysts in a recent note."In this respect, Singapore banks are still relatively less constrained than European banks for example, which have been restricted on all dividends and share buybacks this year."
Regional markets lacked direction. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.62 per cent; the KLSE fell 0.50 per cent. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.17 per cent, and the Nikkei fell 0.26 per cent.For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to