🦎 IGGY MORNING BRIEF, 18 AUGUST 2026

☕ Good morning, Iguanas. SGX opens at 9 am SGT. One item today deserves real attention before anything else.

OVERNIGHT US SUMMARY

Wall Street retreated Monday. Dow down 0.51% to 53,459.78. S&P 500 down 0.52% to 7,745.06. Nasdaq down 0.32% to 26,644.91. Brent crude pushed above US$90/bbl after the 60-day US-Iran peace framework expired and fresh drone attacks hit tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, reviving inflation and stagflation fears. Soft US macro data scaled back rate cut bets; 30-year Treasury yields jumped to 5.29%. VIX rose to 14.90. For SGX, the oil and shipping risk story is the one to watch closely—it carries real cost implications beyond one day’s index move.

SGX PRE-OPEN PULSE

USD/SGD sits at 1.2781. STI’s session yesterday is worth understanding properly: it opened down almost 1% on bank profit-taking (OCBC alone fell over 2% early), then recovered through the day to close up 17 points. A genuine intraday reversal, not a quiet flat session.

SINGAPORE NEWS ON IGGY’S RADAR

📦 July NODX surged 24.2% YoY

Electronics exports drove it, up 112%; disk media products alone up over 300%. This beats the already-upgraded 14–16% full-year forecast comfortably in a single month. A genuinely strong print, not just headline noise.

📊 SGX Group confirms record FY2026, 57¢ full-year dividend

Cash equities daily value rose 35% to an 18-year high; second-half earnings rose 39%. This is a real, confirmed dividend outcome off a record year, not a projection. Given how strongly SGX has benefited from record trading volumes and STI highs this year, this deserves a proper look rather than a passing mention.

IGGY’S GAME PLAN

Two threads to separate clearly today. The oil and Hormuz story is a genuine risk—worth tracking daily, not a one-day blip. Yesterday’s bank-driven dip and recovery reminds us that even a calm-looking close can hide real volatility underneath; check the full session shape, not just the headline, before drawing conclusions.