Shares of DBS Group Holdings Ltd. climbed 2.3% and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. added 1.2%, with both extending record highs. United Overseas BankLtd. rose 2% to its highest level in more than two years.
While higher interest rates help banks’ profitability, they can also translate into capital returns for shareholders “as the sector has [the] capacity to improve already very attractive dividend yields,” Horchani said.
The 12-month projected dividend yield for OCBC was 5.6% compared with about 4.3% for the MSCI Asia Pacific Financials gauge, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Singapore banks are set to report results early next month.