This corporate reporting season will provide a reality check on stock rally

ALTHOUGH the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has made quarterly reporting (QR) voluntary, most companies in the Straits Times Index (STI) have decided to continue with it, which will give investors an opportunity to better assess how much damage the Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted on firms and their business prospects.

With the latest advisory from Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) that issuers should avoid generic statements ascribed to the Covid-19 crisis, the market can expect detailed sharing in management comments on the impact, what is being done and whether companies can weather the economic storm brought by the global health pandemic, and more recently, the shock collapse of global crude oil prices.

Singapore's blue-chip STI has rebounded some 13 per cent from its low in March, with the market betting that the Covid-19 situation will not worsen significantly from this juncture.