Singapore, Jan 11, 2026, 15:04 SGT — Market closed
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) shares fell 1.8% on Friday to close at S$19.80 after JPMorgan cut its rating on the lender to “neutral” from “overweight”, while lifting its target price to S$20.50. DBS and United Overseas Bank ended higher on the day. (The Business Times)
The call matters because OCBC goes into full-year results season trading near recent peaks, with little room left for soft guidance. The bank is scheduled to announce its 2025 full-year results on Feb. 25, a key read for dividends and buybacks and for how quickly earnings cool as rate tailwinds fade. (OCBC)
Friday’s slide left the stock on the day’s low, after it had traded close to its 52-week high of S$20.25 earlier this year. OCBC’s 52-week range runs from S$14.35 to S$20.25, and about 8.42 million shares changed hands on Friday. (Investing)
The wider Singapore market held firm. The Straits Times Index ended up 0.1% on Friday, with investors also looking to a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs; “Tariffs are not going anywhere,” Neil Wilson, a UK investment strategist at Saxo Markets, said. (The Straits Times)
JPMorgan’s new target implies roughly 3.5% upside from Friday’s close, though the downgrade flags tighter risk-reward after the rally. A price target is an analyst estimate of where a stock could trade over the next 12 months, not a guarantee.
With markets shut over the weekend, traders will look for follow-through selling when Singapore reopens on Monday, or for dip-buyers to show up quickly around S$19.80. A quick rebound would point to demand for bank yield; another leg down would suggest the downgrade hit a nerve.
OCBC has already warned that margins are coming under pressure. Net interest margin — the spread between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits — slipped to 1.84% from 2.18% a year earlier, and the bank forecast net interest income would fall by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage in 2025; then-CEO Helen Wong said it was its “strongest quarter this year” even “despite a declining interest-rate environment.” (Reuters)
But there is an obvious risk case: faster rate cuts or tougher deposit competition could squeeze margins more than expected, while a pickup in credit costs would hit earnings just as the stock is priced near its highs. Fee income tied to wealth management could also prove more uneven than investors have been betting on.
Next up is Feb. 25, when OCBC reports full-year results and lays out how it sees margins, credit and capital returns in 2026. Until then, the stock’s tape is likely to keep circling two levels: S$20.25 on the top side, and Friday’s S$19.80 close underneath.
