Singapore, Feb 4, 2026, 15:13 SGT — Regular session.
- OCBC shares climbed 0.66% to S$21.420 by 2:48 p.m. local time.
- On Feb. 3, OCBC submitted an SGXNet notice regarding the use of treasury shares for its employee share scheme.
Singapore lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) saw its shares climb 0.7% to S$21.43 during Wednesday afternoon trading. The stock had opened at S$21.20 and ended the previous session at S$21.28.
The move holds OCBC close to recent highs as investors return to bank stocks ahead of a packed earnings calendar. Attention is also on whether fee income from markets businesses can stay steady if loan margins slip.
OCBC is banking on its capital-markets arm as dealmakers hunt for more reliable demand. Kenneth Yeoh, head of debt capital markets at OCBC, told The Business Times geopolitical uncertainty “is actually quite good for the bond markets, as long as it’s not too volatile.” He also highlighted issuance volumes hovering near decade highs in recent years. The Business Times
The noise is picking up in another corner of Singapore’s finance scene. The Business Times says an increasing number of financial institutions here are turning to securities financing — lending securities for a fee — driven by investor demand for funding and hedging. “As investors focus more on liquidity and balance-sheet management, securities financing is becoming more widely used,” noted Renu Menon, co-head of banking and finance at Drew & Napier. The Business Times
OCBC’s shares have fluctuated between S$14.35 and S$21.44 in the last 52 weeks, currently hovering near the upper limit. Today, the price moved within a narrow band of S$21.20 to S$21.43, data from Investing.com shows.
A filing late Tuesday revealed OCBC tapped 9,569 treasury shares—those are shares held after buybacks—for employee share schemes. The bank now holds 10,766,074 treasury shares. OCBC valued the shares used at S$143,423 and noted the treasury stock accounts for roughly 0.2397% of its total shares outstanding.
Other major Singapore banks climbed as well, suggesting a sector-wide lift rather than isolated gains. DBS Group added 0.2%, while United Overseas Bank also ticked up 0.2% during the session.
Traders zero in on one key metric: net interest margin, or NIM. It’s the difference between what a bank earns on loans versus what it pays out on deposits, shaping the initial earnings reaction before guidance kicks in.
However, as the share price rises, the margin for error shrinks. If rate cuts come quicker than anticipated, margins could tighten. On top of that, a sudden risk-off move might halt bond deals and hit trading revenue hard.
Small shifts in treasury shares are standard for banks handling employee plans. The bigger market question is if management will provide updates on dividends and capital strategy during their report.
OCBC will release its full-year 2025 results on Feb. 25, ahead of the Singapore market open, according to a stock exchange filing.
