BENGALURU: Singapore stocks raced to an all-time high on Tuesday after the city-state hiked its annual growth forecast on an AI-powered boost, while the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso led regional currencies lower on elevated oil prices.
The FTSE Straits Times Index rose as much as 1.3 percent to a record high of 5,774.21 before paring some gains to trade 0.6 percent higher, heading for a third straight session of gains.
Singapore raised its 2026 growth forecast to 4.5 percent-5.5 percent from 2.0 percent-4.0 percent on a stronger-than-expected global investment in AI and a smaller drag from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The revision comes alongside a GDP expansion of 5.9 percent in the second quarter, higher than advance estimates.
Singapore’s dollar was little changed on the day, but remained among the region’s best-performing currencies this year, gaining about 0.4 percent against the US dollar.
Elsewhere, most Southeast Asian currencies weakened as oil prices hovered near one-week highs after fading hopes of a US-Iran agreement stoked concerns over energy costs for the region’s net importers.
The Philippine peso dropped as much as 0.9 percent to 61.243 a dollar, the Thai baht weakened 0.5 percent, and the Malaysian ringgit slipped 0.1 percent.
The Indonesian rupiah lost as much as 0.6 percent to 17,850 per dollar, nearly wiping out the gains secured in the previous session after insider Destry Damayanti was nominated as the sole candidate for central bank chief, easing some concerns over Bank Indonesia’s independence.
Jakarta stocks slipped 1.5 percent to a one-week low.
Tech-heavy benchmarks gained on the day, with bellwether South Korea’s KOSPI adding 0.7 percent and Taiwan closing 0.4 percent higher.
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