Trade of The Day

ETF Monthly: August 2026 – Oil to outperform in September

Analyst: Zane Aw

• Review of asset classes performance in August – Mostly ETFs were in the green, with the top gainer being the ETF tracking Bitcoin (BITO), which surged 24%. On the other hand, the losers were the ETFs tracking US Treasury Bonds and Hang Seng Index, which declined 0.2% and 1.2% respectively.
• For their current trends, Singapore equities remain in an uptrend. Meanwhile, most asset classes namely the S&P 500, Gold, Oil, Bitcoin and Hang Seng Index are in a range consolidation. Conversely, US Treasury Bonds are in a downtrend.
• Heading into September, we expect the ETF tracking Oil to extend its gains. Meanwhile, the ETFs tracking the S&P 500 and Hang Seng Index are likely to consolidate sideways. Conversely, the ETFs tracking US Treasury Bonds, Gold, Bitcoin and Singapore Equities are likely to pull back.

Wall Street bounced back on Thursday (Sep 17) as easing oil prices, dropping US Treasury yields and solid labour data helped markets move beyond the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike in more than three years. All three major US stock indexes closed sharply higher, driven by a broad, tech-led rally that put the Nasdaq out front.

Singapore stocks ended higher on Thursday (Sep 17). Stocks gained 0.5 per cent or 25.11 points to finish at 5,660.52. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding led the gainers, rising 1.8 per cent or S$0.09 to S$5.14. The worst performer was DFI Retail Group, which fell 1.2 per cent or US$0.04 to US$3.41. The three local banks ended higher. DBS gained 0.2 per cent or S$0.14 to S$76.94, OCBC rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$31.28, and UOB was up 1.6 per cent or S$0.67 at S$41.88.

SG

Property industry veteran Desmond Sim has resigned from his dual roles as group chief executive of Realion and CEO of ETC.

OCBC has signed a new 10-year partnership with Bank of Ningbo to further capture growing business, trade, wealth and investment opportunities in Asean and Greater China. The move will strengthen synergies between both organisations as the growth trajectory presented by the Asean-Greater China corridor remains strong

Global advertising, marketing and sales giant Omnicom is said to have leased close to 50,000 sq ft of net lettable area of office space at 51 Merchant Road – about three-quarters of the entire building – near Clarke Quay MRT station

Singapore’s push to become a major gold hub is gaining momentum, with DBS adding bullion storage capacity and other banks considering similar moves. DBS increased its vaulting space in 2026 to support growing demand from both private wealth and institutional clients

The planned transfer of Singtel Special Discounted Shares (SDS) from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board directly to holders’ Central Depository (CDP) accounts remains on track for Nov 21, with a quarter of all SDS already sold. As at Aug 31, around 180 million shares have been sold in total

Schneider Electric is spending S$25 million to upgrade the automation and digital capabilities of its Hub Asia logistics distribution centre in Tuas, as part of the French multinational’s ongoing transformation of its operations in Singapore

US

Anthropic said Claude “leads” 26 per cent of the artificial intelligence research and development work inside the company, part of new measures that it will publish regularly to show outsiders how quickly AI is building the next generation of the technology.

Oil prices settled about 1 per cent lower on Thursday (Sep 17), but stayed above US$100 a barrel, as investors weighed the disruption from strikes by Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis against reports that additional Saudi crude barrels could reach global markets and ease supply concerns.

Gold prices rose more than 1 per cent on Thursday (Sep 17) as investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and its signal that further policy tightening may follow, while an earlier rally in oil prices lost momentum. Spot gold was up 1.1 per cent at US$4,310.49 per ounce

Huawei Technologies is accelerating the debut of its next-generation artificial intelligence chip in 2027 by several months as it aims to replace Nvidia in China and compete on the global stage. The company’s flagship Ascend 960DT chip, originally slated for commercial availability in late 2027, will now be launched in the first quarter

Snap revealed new partnership and software details about its forthcoming Specs augmented reality glasses, pitching the US$2,195 device to early adopters ahead of a launch planned for later this year. The social media company, which believes it has found a design that could make consumers more comfortable with donning a computer on their face, announced a partnership on Wednesday (Sep 16) with Verizon Communications that will allow people to try Specs at select Verizon stores and purchase custom wireless data plans for the wearable device.

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, gave her assessment in a 106-page decision unsealed on Wednesday (Sep 16), two weeks after she rejected the US Department of Justice’s insistence that Google break up its business of placing ads across the internet. Brinkema said Google should instead change some of its business practices

Source: SGX Masnet, Bloomberg, Channel NewsAsia, Reuters, CNBC, WSJ, The Business Times, The Edge Singapore, PSR

Adobe Inc – No inflection point in sight

Recommendation: NEUTRAL; TP US$261.00; Last close: US$250; Analyst Alif Fahmi

• 3Q26 revenue/adj. PATMI met our expectations at 74%/78% of our FY26e forecast. Growth is driven mainly by the Adobe Creative Cloud Pro (CC Pro) deal, with Creative freemium monthly active users (MAU) growing over 70% YoY, surpassing 100mn.
• Management raised FY26e guidance only marginally, with revenue and adj. EPS guidance increasing by 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Despite AI-first ARR exceeding US$650mn, FY26e ending ARR growth guidance was maintained at 10.2% (vs. 11.5% in FY25), reflecting a continued emphasis on user acquisition and engagement over monetisation. Separately, Chakravarthy will succeed Shantanu Narayen as CEO on 1 Dec 2026, ensuring leadership continuity.
• We maintain our NEUTRAL recommendation and raise our TP to US$261 (prev. US$203). We raise FY26e revenue and adjusted EPS forecasts by <1% and 4%, respectively, following higher guidance, and increase g to 2.0% (prev. 0.3%) to reflect the software sector re-rating. Our target price implies a 14.3x FY26e P/E, below its two-year average of 16x. The stock's recovery has been supported by evidence that AI complements Adobe's business, strong AI engagement, and rising confidence in freemium monetisation.




Phillip Macro Update – Fed tightens as inflation pressures persist

Analyst: Phillip Research Team

Key points to note:

1. Rate hike aims to prevent broader inflation pressures. The Fed acknowledged that monetary policy cannot directly lower oil or food prices. Instead, the hike aims to prevent these cost pressure from feeding into broader inflation through second- and third-order effects.
2. Stronger economy gives the Fed more room to focus on inflation. The September SEP points to a more resilient economy. 2026 GDP growth was revised to 2.3% from 2.2%, while unemployment was revised down to 4.1% from 4.3%.
3. Higher Treasury yields have yet to translate into broader economic restraint. Despite the rise in Treasury yields, Warsh said broad financial conditions remain difficult to describe as restrictive. He attributed higher long-end yields partly to stronger economic growth and greater competition for capital, alongside geopolitical risks.







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