“What goes up must come down.”
I heard this again at a recent gathering. We were chatting about holiday plans and year end shopping when someone leaned over and said:
“ Wah the stock market is very high now. Maybe better to be careful in 2026.”
The tone was familiar. You hear this kind of nervousness every time markets climb.
Right now, everyone is talking about whether we’re in an AI bubble. Maybe there is one forming, maybe not. The truth is, no one knows for sure. But that isn’t the main point.
What really matters is that most people aren’t actually afraid of the market falling. They’re afraid of getting it wrong. They’re scared of buying at the wrong time, making a poor decision or being the only one who didn’t “see it coming”.
They wonder if they are buying at the wrong time, making a mistake or being the only one who didn’t “see it coming”.
That fear makes us hesitate. It makes us wait for things to feel safer or clearer. But in investing, waiting often costs far more than the correction we are trying to avoid.
The wrong question leads to the wrong mindset
Over the years, I realised that the question “Can the market still go up in 2026?” pushes us to look at the wrong things. It makes us focus on forecasts, on headlines and on timing.
But markets don’t care about the calendar.
Companies don’t stop developing new products because December is ending.
The true driver of long-term market gains is simple: businesses keep creating value.
Some years like right now, the progress is loud and exciting because major forces like AI push entire industries forward.
Other years, the improvements are more subtle. Companies execute well, strengthen their balance sheets and make steady operational gains that compound quietly.
Either way, markets move because businesses move, not because the date changes.
Look at what companies are actually doing
When you look at what real businesses have been doing this year, the picture becomes even clearer. Companies grow when they execute well, serve more customers and create real economic value, not when the calendar allows them to.
Take OCBC (SGX: O39), one of Singapore’s strongest and most established banks. Despite profits normalising from a record year, it continued strengthening its balance sheet and returned billions of dollars to shareholders through its capital return programme. That is a company delivering on its long-term strategy, not reacting to short-term market noise.
iFAST (SGX: AIY), a fast-growing digital wealth platform locally, reached a record S$30 billion in assets under administration because more investors are choosing online platforms for their long-term savings. This growth was driven by adoption and execution.
And over in the US, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which remains deeply embedded in both business and consumer life, reported strong quarterly results with revenue up 18% year-on-year and operating income rising 24%. Its cloud and AI businesses are driving real customer demand, supported by the growing adoption of Copilot and the company’s massive cloud and AI infrastructure.
Why all-time highs feel scary (and why they shouldn’t)
Many investors fear buying at or near a high.
It feels like a warning sign. It feels like the next step must be down.
But an all-time high is not necessarily a danger sign.
It can also be a milestone that reflects everything the business has achieved so far.
If a company keeps moving forward, the share price eventually tends to follow.
That said, it doesn’t mean we should rush in blindly either. Investing still requires thought and discipline. A simple way to avoid emotional decisions is to pace yourself by investing steadily over time, especially if you are unsure.
Another is to take the time to understand the business you are buying so you know exactly why it deserves a place in your portfolio. These habits keep you consistent without reacting to every price movement.
In my earlier investing years, I spent a lot of time waiting. I waited for dips that never came. I waited for more confidence. I waited for the “right moment”, without knowing what that moment would actually look like.
I wasn’t losing money. But I was losing time. And time is the one ingredient investing cannot replace.
Get Smart: The mindset that actually works
So if someone asks whether markets can still go up in 2026, here is how I think about it.
The year itself doesn’t move the market. Businesses do.
As long as companies are growing, improving and creating value, the long-term direction takes care of itself. That, to me, is a far more grounding and reassuring way to invest than trying to predict what the next 12 months might look like.
When a portfolio’s foundations are strong, whether the market rises in 2026 matters far less.
Investing isn’t about guessing the coming year. It is about staying invested long enough for the long-term story to unfold.
Everything else is noise.
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Disclosure: Joanna Sng owns shares of all the companies mentioned.
