The Latest Domestic Bank To Increase Dividend

Singapore dollar gained throughout Asia and Europe on Wednesday, but some hawkish comments from Fed's Clarida put pressure back on SGD and saw USD/SGD erase all of the day's declines. The pair last down 1 pip on the session at 1.3509. Familiar technical levels remain in play; resistance is seen at the 23.6% retracement level 1.3567 while support seen at a 38.2% retracement level 1.3488.

• On the coronavirus front there were 92 new cases on Wednesday, holding below the key 100 figure for a second day. Officials said restrictions and vaccinations help to slow the spread of the virus and it will review restrictions in early August. Officials have said they want to see 80% of the population vaccinated by September before allowing for some quarantine-free travel
• Elsewhere DBS are likely to get a boost today after increasing its interim dividend to $0.03 according to the bank's latest earnings reports. Singapore's biggest bank reported second-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates, similar results were seen from OCBC and UOB. The MAS ended a cap on dividends a few days before the banks reported.
• Finally, data late on Wednesday showed PMI rose to 56.7 in July, jumping from 50.1 in June. Commenting on the latest survey results, Jingyi Pan, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, said: "Although brief, the relaxation of Phase 2 restrictions enabled business activity to ramp up in July to a state of a strong rebound according to the latest IHS Markit Singapore PMI. Supply constraints and price pressures nevertheless lingered for private sector firms, constraining output growth to some extent."