Singapore Stock Market Today: STI Extends Rally on December 1, 2025 as REITs and Mid‑Caps Lead the Charge

Singapore – 1 December 2025 – Singapore’s stock market kicked off December on a steady, upbeat note, with investors rotating into yield plays and growthier mid‑caps while keeping a close eye on global rate expectations and trade tensions.

The Straits Times Index (STI) closed Monday at 4,532.65, up about 0.19% on the day. It marked the third consecutive gain for the benchmark and leaves the index more than 20% higher than a year ago, trading not far below its recent record zone between 4,550 and 4,575. ^[1]

Singapore Stock Market Today (1 December 2025)

After a positive week that already saw Singapore shares “end in the green” on Friday as investors bet on further US Federal Reserve rate cuts, Monday’s session extended the advance, though at a gentler pace. ^[2]

Intraday, the STI traded in a relatively tight band between roughly 4,524 and 4,544, with an opening print just above 4,531 and modest net inflows into blue‑chip financials and select property names. ^[3]

Market breadth was supported by a solid list of dollar gainers:

Among the top dollar movers were Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land, OCBC and UOB, all chalking up price gains alongside strong trading value.
More speculative action clustered in smaller caps: semiconductor optics company MetaOptics jumped about 17% to S$0.84, while Low Keng Huat rallied around 17% to S$0.72 and several other mid‑ and small‑cap counters booked high single‑ to double‑digit percentage rises. ^[4]

The STI’s 52‑week range of 3,372 to 4,576 underlines just how much the market has re‑rated over the past year; over the last 12 months the index is up roughly 21%, according to Investing.com data. ^[5]

Macro Backdrop: GDP Surprise and Upgraded Growth Forecasts

Underpinning the equity rally is a noticeably stronger domestic macro picture.

Singapore’s Q3 2025 GDP ultimately grew 4.2% year‑on‑year, beating earlier advance estimates (2.9%) and consensus, with quarter‑on‑quarter growth of 2.4%. ^[6]
In response, the Ministry of Trade and Industry upgraded its 2025 growth forecast to “around 4.0%”, from a previous 1.5–2.5% band, and issued a 2026 range of 1.0–3.0%. ^[7]

Sector details matter for stock pickers:

Manufacturing expanded by about 5% year‑on‑year in Q3, driven in part by surging demand for AI‑related semiconductors, servers and server‑related equipment. ^[8]
A “morning wrap” summary of official data highlighted that Singapore’s services sector grew 5.3% year‑on‑year in Q3, led by recreation, underscoring resilient domestic demand and tourism‑linked spending. ^[9]

Private economists have followed MTI’s lead, raising 2025 forecasts and nudging many 2026 projections into the upper half of the official 1–3% band. Still, they warn that new US tariffs and fading “front‑loading” of exports before those tariffs kicked in will likely cool momentum next year, even as sectors tied to digitalisation and finance remain relatively resilient. ^[10]

For equities, the message is mixed but manageable: 2025 looks like a “near‑potential” growth year, but 2026 could feel slower, making earnings quality and sector selection more important than sheer beta exposure.

REITs Back in Favour as Rates Ease

One of the clearest market narratives heading into December is a re‑rating of Singapore REITs (S‑REITs).

Brokerage UOB Kay Hian reiterated an “overweight” call on S‑REITs, noting that:

12 of 16 large‑cap S‑REITs under its coverage met expectations in their latest results season.
Safe‑haven liquidity inflows into Singapore have pushed the Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA) down to around 1.08%, easing funding conditions.
The sector stands to benefit further as global policy rates drift lower, especially after the US Federal Reserve’s latest 25‑basis‑point cut to 3.75% in late October. ^[11]

UOB Kay Hian’s highlighted S‑REIT “buy” list includes:

Keppel DC REIT – a data‑centre play that recently delivered about 10% rental reversion and plans additional AI‑ready capacity at its new SGP8 data centre.
Keppel REIT – supported by high‑occupancy Grade A offices and selective overseas retail exposure.
Lendlease Global Commercial REIT (LReit) – which posted nearly 9% rental reversion and ~99.6% occupancy, with an increasing focus on Singapore assets.
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (CLAR) – raising its guidance for rental reversion to low double‑digits in 2025 on the back of logistics and industrial upgrades.
CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) – benefiting from a broad travel recovery despite one‑off tax adjustments in Australia. ^[12]

The broader takeaway: S‑REITs have lagged the STI’s powerful rally, even though their fundamentals and funding backdrop have improved. Analysts expect them to “catch up” rather than lead any future downturn, making them attractive for investors seeking income with moderate capital upside. ^[13]

Mid‑Caps Outperform: iEdge Next 50 Steals the Spotlight

While the STI’s heavyweights dominate headlines, mid‑cap Singapore stocks have quietly been the real stars of 2025.

A Business Times Money Hacks podcast notes that the newly launched iEdge Next 50 indices – tracking 50 mid‑cap names just outside the STI – have climbed more than 24% year‑to‑date, significantly outpacing the benchmark index. ^[14]

Key themes from that discussion:

Mid‑caps sit in a “sweet spot”: faster growth than blue chips, but less volatility than tiny small‑caps.
Fundamentals that matter most: earnings consistency, balance‑sheet strength, governance quality and reasonable valuations, especially because many mid‑caps enjoy thinner analyst coverage. ^[15]
Portfolio construction: mid‑caps are best treated as a “growth sleeve” alongside core STI holdings, not a complete replacement.

On Monday’s tape, the outperformance narrative was reinforced by outsized moves in mid‑cap and smaller‑cap counters such as MetaOptics, Lion Asiapac, MSM International and Zhongmin Baihui, all of which featured in SGInvestors’ top dollar gainers list. ^[16]

Stock Stories Moving the Singapore Market

Singtel: After a 50% Rally, Valuation Catches Up

Telecom giant Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) has been one of 2025’s standout blue‑chip winners, with the stock up about 50% this year. That surge has now prompted UBS to downgrade the stock from “Buy” to “Neutral”, even as it retained a price target of S$4.40. ^[17]

UBS cites:

Strong investor response to asset‑recycling initiatives and the sale of its Airtel stake.
A steady trend of dividend‑per‑share increases, though future dividend yields of roughly 3.9% (FY2026) and 4.2% (FY2027) now look modest versus the ASEAN telco average around 5%. ^[18]

In other words, the market has already priced in much of the improvement, and future gains will likely depend on fresh catalysts rather than simple multiple expansion.

MetaOptics: Metalens Champion Rides Nasdaq Ambition

One of the most eye‑catching moves on Monday came from MetaOptics, a semiconductor optics company that only listed on SGX in early September at S$0.20 per share. ^[19]

The stock:

Has surged roughly 300% since its IPO, even before today’s move.
Jumped nearly 14% intraday after the company proposed a placement of about 6.7 million new shares at S$0.7255 each to raise around S$4.85 million.
Plans to use the proceeds to shore up working capital, strengthen its balance sheet and scale production of its glass‑based metalens solutions across consumer, automotive and industrial markets. ^[20]

The rally has also been fueled by plans for a dual listing on Nasdaq, dovetailing neatly with SGX’s own efforts to build a Nasdaq dual‑listing “bridge” set to go live in 2026. ^[21]

Soon Hock Enterprise: Industrial Property With Fat Dividend Potential

Freshly listed industrial property developer Soon Hock Enterprise secured a “buy” initiation from UOB Kay Hiantoday, with a target price of S$0.68 – roughly 15% above its recent S$0.59 trade. ^[22]

The brokerage highlights:

A S$1 billion project pipeline across four active developments.
Strong pre‑sales at Stellar@Tampines and Skye@Tuas, the latter marketed as Singapore’s first industrial project with EV truck‑charging facilities.
An eye‑catching revenue CAGR of 178% and net profit CAGR of 124% projected over 2024–2027, off a low base.
A minimum 25% dividend payout ratio in 2025 and 2026, translating into estimated yields of about 5.5% and 10% respectively. ^[23]

Soon Hock’s story neatly captures two themes investors are watching closely: industrial upgrading around Tuas and Changi, and the search for high, sustainable yields beyond traditional REITs.

Low Keng Huat: Delisting Bid Puts a Premium on Value

In property, Low Keng Huat drew attention after its controlling shareholders launched a voluntary delisting offer at S$0.72 per share. The cash offer represents roughly a 17% premium to the last traded price of S$0.615 on 28 November, according to The Business Times. ^[24]

The move underscores persistent concerns about public‑market valuations for smaller developers, even as Singapore’s broader property market remains structurally tight. It also serves as a reminder that take‑private and delisting transactions can still be an exit route for undervalued mid‑caps.

IPO and Listing Pipeline: SGX–Nasdaq Bridge and New Names

On the primary market side, SGX’s listing pipeline remains shallow but active.

A Mark‑to‑Market column argues that UltraGreen.ai is right to push ahead with a Singapore listing now rather than wait for the SGX–Nasdaq dual‑listing bridge, which is expected to allow S$2 billion‑plus companies to list on both exchanges using a single prospectus from mid‑2026. ^[25]
The same coverage notes that Infinity Development is slated to begin trading on 3 December, while Leong Guanis expected to debut on 11 December, adding to 2025’s modest crop of new SGX names. ^[26]

Separately, SGInvestors highlights a set of newer listings such as Yangzijiang Maritime, Coliwoo, Soon Hock and Centurion REIT, which collectively broaden the investable universe in maritime services, co‑living and accommodation assets. ^[27]

Together with reform of listing rules (see next section), these developments are slowly but meaningfully refreshing the market’s stock menu, especially in niche industrial and real‑asset plays.

Structural Reforms and the Trading Landscape

Regulatory and structural shifts are gradually reshaping how the Singapore market works.

SGX Regulation: Watch List Retired, Profit Test Lowered

A recent Business Times column flagged two notable SGX Regulation moves:

Retiring the financial watch list, long viewed as a stigma for weaker companies.
Lowering the Mainboard profit‑test requirement from S$30 million to S$10 million in aggregate profit. ^[28]

While some critics question whether the watch list itself was truly the problem – as opposed to the weak business models of many companies on it – the changes clearly lower the bar for smaller, profitable firms to seek a mainboard listing, potentially boosting future deal flow.

Global Brokers and Commission‑Free Access

On the trading side, Interactive Brokers has rolled out commission‑free US stock trading for Singapore clients via its IBKR Lite offering, part of a broader global expansion that also includes a new Visa card. ^[29]

This trend towards cheaper, more seamless access to overseas markets could:

Encourage greater retail participation,
Increase cross‑border portfolio diversification, and
Place competitive pressure on local brokerages to revisit their own fee structures.

Crypto Perpetuals and Cross‑Asset Innovation

Even as Bitcoin plunged below US$88,000 on Monday, extending a weeks‑long sell‑off that has erased over US$1 trillion in crypto market value, SGX is preparing to roll out Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual futures aimed at institutional and accredited investors. ^[30]

For Singapore’s capital markets, the juxtaposition is telling: high volatility in unregulated venues vs risk‑managed exposure on a tightly supervised exchange. It reinforces the city‑state’s positioning as a measured hub for alternative assets, not an “anything goes” crypto hotspot.

Global Market and Cross‑Asset Signals

Singapore stocks rarely move in isolation, and global cues at the start of December are nuanced:

The Nasdaq 100 just ended November in a “recovery mode”, having pulled back nearly 9% from record highs before rebounding in the final days of the month. Technical analysis from Phillip Securities highlights the index’s reclaiming of its 50‑ and 100‑day moving averages, suggesting an ongoing – if moderating – bull trend. ^[31]
Pictet Asset Management’s 2026 outlook expects global equities to return about 5% next year, with emerging market stocks and bonds among the likely outperformers, supported by trend‑like world GDP growth of roughly 2.6% and widespread monetary easing. ^[32]
At the same time, Pictet warns that US assets look expensive and that sticky inflation plus trade frictions may limit how far US valuations can stretch, strengthening the case for greater EM and Asia exposure – where Singapore often functions as a gateway. ^[33]

For Singapore investors, the implication is clear: global liquidity remains supportive, but future returns will likely be more modest and dispersed, with stock and sector selection eclipsing broad beta.

Outlook for Singapore Stocks in 2026

Putting the pieces together, the current consensus points to a constructively cautious outlook for Singapore’s equity market in 2026:

Growth: Official forecasts of 1–3% GDP growth for 2026, with many economists leaning toward the upper half, suggest steady but slower expansion after a strong 2025. ^[34]
Earnings: Banks, industrials and select tech‑adjacent plays (e.g. AI‑related hardware) should continue to benefit from external demand and regional capital flows, while hospitality and consumer names may see more mixed trends as tourism normalises and one‑off boosts fade. ^[35]
Valuations: With the STI already up some 20% over the past year, much of the easy re‑rating appears done; further upside will hinge on mid‑single‑digit earnings growth and stable multiples rather than another wave of PE expansion. ^[36]

A reasonable base‑case scenario is a market that:

Delivers mid‑single‑digit capital gains,
Adds a few percentage points of dividend yield (especially from banks and REITs), and
Spends much of the year oscillating in a broad range unless there is a material surprise from US rate policy or trade negotiations.

Within that:

Banks & financials look set to remain core holdings, with resilient ROEs, decent dividends and leverage to regional growth.
REITs may offer catch‑up potential if bond yields drift lower and rental reversions stay positive. ^[37]
Mid‑caps in industrials, logistics, tech and specialised consumer niches could continue to outperform, albeit with higher volatility, provided earnings delivery keeps pace with elevated expectations. ^[38]

Key Risks to Monitor

Investors tracking Singapore stocks into 2026 should keep an eye on several downside drivers:

Trade and tariff shocks
New US tariffs, particularly on technology and pharmaceuticals, could weigh on Singapore’s export‑oriented sectors once the temporary boost from front‑loading fades. ^[39]
Global growth disappointment
If US or European growth slows more than expected, or if AI‑related capital expenditure cools abruptly, manufacturing and logistics earnings could come under pressure. ^[40]
Rate‑cut expectations mis‑priced
A slower‑than‑expected easing cycle – especially if inflation proves sticky – would cap valuation expansion and could delay the S‑REIT recovery. ^[41]
Domestic property and political risk
Policy changes around housing, industrial land or labour could alter the investment thesis for developers, REITs and construction‑related stocks.
Risk‑off shocks from crypto or geopolitics
The recent Bitcoin slump below US$88,000 shows how quickly risk sentiment can sour across asset classes, particularly if leveraged positions unwind. ^[42]

What This Means for Investors

For investors positioning around the Singapore stock market after 1 December 2025:

Treat banks, high‑quality REITs and defensive mid‑caps as the core of a Singapore allocation.
Use mid‑caps and selective growth names (including AI‑related plays and niche industrial developers) as satellite positions, sized with liquidity and volatility in mind.
Pay close attention to earnings quality, balance‑sheet strength and dividend sustainability, rather than chasing price momentum alone – especially after strong year‑to‑date gains in many segments.
Remember that structural changes – from the SGX–Nasdaq bridge to commission‑free access to US stocks – may gradually shift flows and valuation norms; staying informed will matter as much as stock picking itself. ^[43]

As always, this article is for information and general commentary only. It is not investment advice, and any investment decisions should take into account individual objectives, risk tolerance and, ideally, professional guidance.