Singapore, Jan 20, 2026, 15:01 SGT — Regular session
Shares of United Overseas Bank Ltd slipped 0.3% to S$36.73 by 2:48 p.m. in Singapore on Tuesday, after fluctuating between S$36.48 and S$36.88 earlier in the session. Trading volume hit roughly 1.36 million shares. 1
Traders pay attention to the modest shift since UOB is smack in the middle of Singapore’s bank-heavy benchmark, where flows can shift rapidly on news. This follows the lender’s recent update on share repurchases.
Risk appetite dipped across Asia as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up efforts to seize control of Greenland and warned of more tariffs on European countries. The moves dragged U.S. stock futures down and sent Treasury yields higher, according to Reuters. Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com, warned of “the risk … heading for a potentially disruptive standoff between the U.S. and EU.” 2
A filing late Monday revealed UOB repurchased 38,000 shares on Jan. 19, paying between S$36.40 and S$36.84 per share, totaling around S$1.40 million. Since the buyback mandate began in April 2025, the bank has bought back 19.24 million shares, roughly 1.15% of its issued shares, the filing showed. 3
Singapore’s bank shares saw a split in afternoon trading. DBS Group slipped 0.8% to S$58.25, while OCBC nudged up 0.4% to S$20.39. Investors are eyeing DBS’s FY2025 results coming on Feb. 9, often viewed as a bellwether for the sector’s direction. 4
Buybacks support earnings per share by reducing the number of shares outstanding, but the short-term boost hinges on the speed of repurchases, share price, and how hungry the market is for risk. Given the swings in rates and currencies driven by macro news, bank stocks often react more to market mood than to the companies’ own moves on any single day.
The downside is clear: if geopolitical and trade tensions continue to drive yields and volatility up, investors may trim their financials holdings despite ongoing buybacks. A wider risk-off move could easily outweigh any extra support from corporate repurchases.
UOB’s next major event is its FY25/4Q25 earnings release on Feb. 24. Investors will focus on any updates about dividends, capital use, and credit costs as the bank revises its outlook. 5
