Singapore shares opened lower today after the US central bank affirmed that more interest rate increases are likely ahead as the inflation rate is still high. 

In early trade, the Straits Times Index (STI) was down 0.1 per cent to 3,221.78 points after 30.3 million securities changed hands in the broader market.

In terms of companies to watch, we have DBS and OCBC. That’s after the Monetary Authority of Singapore imposed composition penalties totalling S$3.8 million on DBS, OCBC, Citibank and insurer Swiss Life (Singapore) for money-laundering rule breaches uncovered in a Wirecard probe. 

Elsewhere, investors continue to digest Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish tone in its semi-annual testimony on where the central bank is headed for the rest of this year.  

Meanwhile, from Netflix outlining its US$2.5 billion South Korean bet on the K-drama mania to job cuts at SoftBank Group’s Vision fund, more corporate news continue to make the headlines today.

On Market View, the Drive Time team dived into the details with Terence Wong, CEO, Azure Capital.