Singapore’s three banks dragged the market lower last week, but institutional money flowed into more than 90 smaller counters.
Singapore Exchange (SGX: S68) also added to its product range on two fronts: a first-of-its-kind Belt and Road bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) and five AI-focused depository receipts.
Finally, a Bukit Timah mixed-use property is up for collective sale again.
Smaller Counters Attract Institutional Buyers as Banks Lead the Sell-Off
Institutional investors were net sellers of close to S$900 million of Singapore stocks in the week ending 9 October 2026, according to SGX data.
The three local banks accounted for around four-fifths of that selling: DBS Group (SGX: D05), OCBC (SGX: O39) and UOB (SGX: U11).
The banks’ shares fell an average of 7% over the week, and the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) slid 4.1%.
Higher US Treasury yields prompted portfolio rebalancing, while rising fuel, shipping and labour costs raised questions about margins.
Beneath the headline, 93 small- and mid-cap (SMID) stocks drew a combined net institutional inflow of S$113 million.
AEM Holdings (SGX: AWX) led with S$61 million, more than half the total, as its shares rose 7.1%.
The rest of the top five were Venture Corporation (SGX: V03), UMS Integration (SGX: 558), Q&M Dental Group (SGX: QC7) and DFI Retail Group (SGX: D01).
Earnings quality also appeared to matter.
Thirteen stocks that combined forecast earnings growth with an improving return on equity recorded a median inflow of 6.1 basis points of market value.
That compares with 1.9 basis points for 22 comparable peers.
A New Gateway to China’s Belt and Road Bonds
Singapore Exchange (SGX) welcomed the listing of the CGS-ICBC-CFETS Belt and Road Bond Index ETF on 15 October 2026.
It is SGX’s first ETF giving investors exposure to renminbi (RMB) bonds linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
CGS International Securities Singapore manages the fund, with the Singapore branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (HKEX: 1398) as investment adviser.
The ETF tracks a custom index compiled by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
Its bonds trade in the China Interbank Bond Market and include panda bonds, which are RMB-denominated bonds issued in China by foreign governments, multinational companies and development banks.
The ETF trades in Singapore dollars under the code OBR and in offshore RMB under OBU.
Xue Jun, president of China Galaxy Securities (HKEX: 6881), noted that access to this bond market has typically been limited to qualified institutions.
The ETF now lets Singapore investors hold these bonds through a single listed product.
SGX’s Ng Yao Loong said the listing “reinforces Singapore’s role as one of the international gateways for offshore RMB investment”.
SGX now hosts 60 ETFs with combined assets of S$21 billion.
5 AI Heavyweights Join SGX’s Depository Receipt Line-Up
SGX expanded its Singapore Depository Receipt (SDR) programme with five AI-themed names, launched on 16 October 2026.
SDRs let investors invest in overseas-listed companies on SGX in Singapore dollars, during local trading hours and in smaller amounts.
The new additions span the AI value chain:
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM), the chipmaker
- SK hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY), the memory chip specialist
- Montage Technology (HKEX: 6809), a memory-interconnect chip supplier
- Zhongji Innolight (HKEX: 3308), an optical networking firm
- Z.ai (HKEX: 2513), described as the world’s first publicly listed large language model company
TSMC and SK Hynix join SGX’s US-linked SDRs, while the other three are Hong Kong-listed.
The launch builds on strong momentum.
SDR turnover grew more than 40% year on year in the third quarter of 2026 (3Q2026) to S$15 million.
Assets under management rose 61% year on year to over S$300 million, with retail investors holding more than 80%.
The three largest SDRs by assets are Alibaba (HKEX: 9988), BYD (HKEX: 1211) and Tencent (HKEX: 0700).
Bukit Timah Mixed-Use Block Back on the En Bloc Market
Beauty World Plaza is a mixed-use development next to Beauty World MRT station in Bukit Timah.
It has been put up for collective sale at S$165 million, or S$2,231 per square foot (psf) of gross floor area, real estate adviser ETC announced on 13 October 2026.
The eight-storey building stands on a 24,817 sq ft site.
It has shops on the first three floors, an open terrace on the fourth and residential flats above.
The 999-year leasehold site is zoned for commercial and residential use, with a gross plot ratio of 3.0 under the URA Master Plan 2025.
Preliminary approval has been granted for serviced apartments in the residential component, which could provide about 108 keys.
Swee Shou Fern, ETC’s head of investment advisory, said buyers could redevelop the site or enhance the existing building.
She added that nearby educational institutions could support demand for hospitality, co-living and student-oriented accommodation concepts.
The public tender closes at 3pm on 19 November 2026.
This is the property’s second sale attempt, at an unchanged price.
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