At 0138 GMT, shares of DBS were traded at S$12.22 with over 4 million shares changing hands. The Straits Times Index was up 0.2 percent at the same time.

DBS on Wednesday posted a 6 percent rise in quarterly net profit on strong loan growth, and was confident it could ride out near-term economic uncertainties.

"These look like a good set of results and underscores our view that the bank is delivering on its promise of a turnaround. This should lead to re-rating...stock should outperform today," JPMorgan said in a report.

CIMB Research upgraded DBS to outperform from underperform and raised its target price to S$14.00 from S$11.90.