[SINGAPORE] Shares of DBS Bank climbed as much as 2.3 per cent on Tuesday (Oct 7) morning, driving its market capitalisation beyond S$150 billion.
The counter hit S$54.42 as at 11.15 am, continuing a rally that has seen it climb more than 21 per cent year to date.
In June, DBS became the first listed company in Singapore to cross the US$100 billion (S$129 billion) market capitalisation milestone, helped by a weaker US dollar.
It now has nearly double the market capitalisation of its nearest banking rival, OCBC .
The head of prime brokerage dealing at Maybank Securities in Singapore, Tareck Horchani, last week said DBS is more efficiently run than its competitors and has more of a focus to reward shareholders.
Optimism around US Federal Reserve rate cuts has driven DBS shares and the Straits Times Index (STI) higher, though UOB and OCBC recently did not rise to new highs like BDS.
Neww measures by the Singapore government to enhance equity market returns via the “value unlock” package and the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) has also resulted in analysts raising their STI price targets.
The SGX last month also launched the new iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index tracking the performance of the next 50 stocks outside the flagship 30-stock mainboard.
