SG Morning Highlights: SGX RegCo will consider costs, benefits for ESG disclosure requirements

Advancers / Decliners is 113 to 39, with 100.54 million securities worth S$121.40 million changing hands.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday accused oil and gas companies of making "excessive" profits from the energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine, calling it "immoral."

Guterres, releasing a UN report on the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, urged governments to tax the companies' earnings.

"It is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from this energy crisis on the backs of the poorest people and communities and at a massive cost to the climate," the UN chief told reporters.

As Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) looks to introduce updated governance and disclosure standards, the market regulator promised to be mindful of costs companies will incur to comply with these standards.

At the Singapore Governance and Transparency Forum held on Aug 3, SGX RegCo chairman Professor Tan Cheng Han spoke about considerations in requiring additional governance and disclosure standards.

The 13th case of monkeypox in Singapore was detected on Tuesday (Aug 2).

The man, 33, is a local unlinked case with no recent travel history, said the Ministry of Health on its website on Wednesday (Aug 3).

He is the eighth local unlinked case.

The Singapore Governance and Transparency Index (SGTI) climbed to a new high this year, as companies committed themselves to better corporate governance and sustainability disclosure practices.

According to results released on Wednesday (Aug 3), the index's mean score in the general category breached the 70-point mark for the first time, hitting 70.6, up from 68.7 a year earlier.

This comes as DBS' net interest margin (NIM), which had been declining since 2019, rose 3 basis points (bps) in Q1 amid interest rate hikes, the bank noted in its earnings release before the market open. In Q2, NIM gained 12 bps to 1.58 per cent, as the impact of rate hikes was more fully felt.

DPU for the first half rose to US$0.0352 from US$0.0333 in the corresponding year-ago period. The higher DPU translates to an annualised distribution yield of 10.5 per cent per annum, based on the closing price of US$0.675 as at Jun 30 this year, Prime US Reit's manager noted.

The book closure date is Aug 12, and the distribution will be paid on Sep 26.