4 stocks to watch on Friday: JBLU, MDB, SKHY, and AVGO

Singapore stocks closed higher on Friday, Aug 21, with the Straits Times Index (STI) gaining 0.3% or 17.05 points to settle at 5,688.96. City Developments Limited (CDL) was the top performer among blue-chip stocks, surging 1.7% to S$8.25. The STI's weakest link was ST Engineering, which dropped 1.6% to S$10.68. Among the local banks, DBS, OCBC, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) all posted gains - DBS rose 0.2% to S$76, OCBC increased 0.7% to S$30.98, and UOB climbed 0.8% to S$40.53.

In the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, First Resources led the charge with a 3.3% gain, while UltraGreen.ai suffered the biggest drop at 14.8%. The broader market saw 322 stocks rise for every 242 that fell, with a total turnover of S$2 billion and 1.1 billion securities changing hands. International Cement Group was the most actively traded stock, with 47.3 million shares changing hands, while DBS was the most actively traded by value, with 3.4 million shares totaling S$255.8 million in trade.

Regional indices were mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 1.2%, South Korea's Kospi rising 0.9%, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipping 0.3%, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down 0.01%. Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that the U.S. Treasury's decision to boost buybacks of longer-dated debt could benefit Asian markets.

A weaker U.S. dollar would ease financial conditions in the region, give local central banks more flexibility, and keep capital circulating in equities instead of flowing back to U.S. cash and Treasuries.