Daily Briefing: MAS damps speculation of policy easing; Singapore banks facing earnings stumble

And SGX suffers as listing loses luster globally.

Singapore’s central bank said its current monetary policy stance is appropriate and inflation may turn positive later this year, damping speculation of further easing. “Unless there is a marked deterioration in the global economy or significant shift to the inflation outlook, there is no need to change the monetary policy stance,” Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told reporters on Monday at the release of the central bank’s annual report. Read more here.

Singapore’s ambition to become Asia’s top financial hub is taking a battering. The biggest hit has been to its public markets: This year alone, nearly $5.5 billion in market capitalization is expected to vanish from Singapore’s stock exchange when flagship companies delist. Find out more here.

Earnings reports due soon from Singapore’s largest banks may show their second-quarter profits were crimped by higher buffers for soured loans and a faltering rally in domestic interest rates.Here are five charts illustrating the themes that may emerge out of the reports from DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Banking Ltd. Read more here.

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