UOB shares end 2.5% lower following JPMorgan’s downgrade

UOB shares declined by more than 3 per cent on Monday (Jan 26) morning, after hitting a new high last Friday.

As at 9.05 am, the counter had slipped by over 2 per cent to S$38.43, before it fell further by 3.1 per cent or S$1.23 to S$38.27 by 9.17 am.

It reached S$38.20, down 3.3 per cent or S$1.30, as at 9.22 am. Later at 3.20 pm, the bank’s shares pared some losses, but was still down 2.4 per cent or S$0.93 at S$38.57.

The bank’s shares ended Monday’s session 2.5 per cent or S$1 lower at S$38.50.

UOB was also the largest decliner on the Straits Times Index at market open on Monday – appearing to undergo a correction from the new highs it reached last week.

It had surged by 5 per cent on Jan 23, when it closed at S$39.50.

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The retreat followed JPMorgan’s Jan 25 downgrade of the counter to “underweight” from “neutral”. It maintained its target price for UOB at S$34.

JPMorgan’s downgrade came even as analysts were mostly positive on it last week, with Macquarie analyst Jayden Vantarakis raising his call on the stock to “outperform”, with an increased target price of S$41.

On the whole, Singapore’s trio of local banks were flagged as beneficiaries from wealth asset management inflows due to the city-state’s “safe-haven” status, said the analyst in a note on Jan 21.

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