Forex to badger DBS' loan growth
US$ and HK$ have weakened 3.7% against S$.
Whilst DBS is expected to report a positive underlying loan growth on a sequential basis in 1Q17, foreign exchange rate may negatively affect such improvement.
According to a report from UOB KayHian, the US$, and HK$, which comprise 33.4% and 11.7% of DBS' total loans, respectively, have weakened by 3.7% against the S$.
"[This] may drag overall loan growth into the negative territory," the brokerage firm said.
This would then be compensated by NIM expansion of 6bp qoq to 1.77% due to the recent pick-up in SIBOR and SOR.