Singapore, Feb 9, 2026, 15:03 SGT — Regular session
- OCBC shares edged up about 0.9% in afternoon deals.
- DBS shares slid after fourth-quarter profits came in below expectations, triggering the sell-off.
- OCBC is up next, with investors closely watching for any signs of margin pressure and potential signals on dividends.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp stock edged up Monday, adding roughly 0.9%—that’s 19 Singapore cents—to close at S$21.42. OCBC outpaced its peers as investors shifted into Singapore’s bank stocks ahead of a busy earnings period. DBS, by comparison, trailed the pack. 1
Timing matters now. DBS opened the local earnings season with a weaker quarter, and investors are left to decide: Is this a temporary miss, or is it the start of more pressure on bank profits?
OCBC has two big concerns at the moment: shrinking margins and mounting payout demands. A fall in interest rates would eat into the bank’s loan spreads. Meanwhile, with the stock at all-time highs, investors are pushing harder for larger dividends and more aggressive capital returns.
DBS missed expectations, posting a 10% slide in fourth-quarter net profit. The stock slipped 1.1%. That’s despite the Straits Times Index tacking on 0.6%. The lender’s net interest margin narrowed to 1.93% as local rates eased, according to the bank. But DBS did boost its ordinary dividend and rolled out a capital return dividend, saying those payouts will continue through financial years 2026 and 2027. CGS International analysts Tay Wee Kuang and Lim Siew Khee pointed to weaker-than-hoped trading income from markets. CEO Tan Su Shan warned investors to “buckle up” for a volatile year. 2
OCBC shares picked up steam, but not thanks to any bank-specific catalyst. The move looked like a sector rotation—investors rotated out of DBS following its earnings, and OCBC ended up catching some of that flow. Traders were searching for the next name that could budge.
Next up: OCBC. Investors are zeroed in on this one, hunting for signs that the bank’s interest income has topped out. The big question—can growth from wealth management and market-related fees make up the difference?
Dividend talk is picking up. DBS made its position on capital return dividends unmistakable, signaling to competitors that they’ll have to outline strategies for surplus capital if profits start to dip.
Even so, the risk is plain enough: If rates fall faster than banks are counting on, or loan appetite slows while deposit battles heat up, profit projections can change fast—and those dividend hopes could get cut down.
Credit quality is still a worry. Singapore banks carry a lot of weight in corporate and property loans—if bad-loan provisions jump, any gains elsewhere could evaporate quickly. One sharp rise, and markets might waste no time baking in a tougher cycle.
OCBC will post its 2025 full-year results on Feb. 25 before the market opens, an SGX filing shows. Shareholders are set to focus on what management says about margins and capital returns—signals that might decide whether Monday’s gain in the stock holds in the days ahead. 3
