The steady gains by the three local banks have pushed the Straits Times Index to a new record of 5,433.88 points, while the market cap of DBS Group Holdings is just a whisker off the $200 billion mark.
At July 9's closing price of $70.23, up 1.64% for the day, the market value of the region's largest bank has reached $199.7 billion.
DBS crossed the $100 billion mark back in November 2024.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, the second largest bank by market cap, has reached $114.74 billion, with its share price at $27.32, up 1.98% for the day and up 37.63% year to date.
United Overseas Bank reached $73.78 billion with the closing price of $44.34, up 2.33% for the day and up 25.79% year to date.
"Modestly rising SGD rates should support growth in both net interest and non-interest income," suggests Jayden Vantarakis of Macquarie, in his July 7 note previewing the upcoming 2Q results of the banks.
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There is a chance that fee income, one of the two income pillars of the local banks with their unbridled push on wealth management, may beat expectations.
Further upside may come from "contained provisions", adds Vantarakis.
He has upgraded DBS and UOB to outperform, with respective target prices of $70.86 and $45.16 respectively.
He was already bullish on OCBC with a similar call and target price of $27.76.
