Straits Times Index (STI)

Straits Times Index may stay resilient despite overstretched US markets and rising US risk-free rates.

Time in the STI market generally works if one is invested in a basket of index or REIT stocks, says Chew Sutat.

Chew: I am mid- and long-term bullish and will take my time to re-enter blue chips or ETFs here

Chew notes that although the STI was on course to make a 17-year high with significant stock market volumes, there has been nostalgia over the bull markets of the 90s and the lead-up to 2007’s peak.

CDLHT, DBS, FEHT and CLI are among analyst Thilan Wickramasinghe’s top picks.

Chew expects a market pullback, with laggards having a smaller downside.

Singapore stocks climbed to their highest level since 2007, following the 50 bps rate cut by the US Fed.

An interest rate cut by the US Fed in September is a ‘near certainty’, says PhillipCapital, who is ‘overweight’ on REITs.

There is a pressing need to revitalise our ecosystem to facilitate successful IPOs for smaller companies here.

The benchmark STI provides yields of more than 5%, which is higher than what most regional markets offer.