1 The five largest plays in Singapore's financial sector - DBS, OCBC, UOB, Great Eastern Holdings and Singapore Exchange (SGX) - have averaged a total return of 0.7 per cent in the year-to-date, said SGX.

2 The best-performing stocks for total year-to-date returns that pay dividends are: k1 Ventures (+52.6 per cent), Maxi-Cash Financial Services (+35.9 per cent), ARA Asset Management (+20.3 per cent), G. K. Goh (+12.1 per cent) and Hotung Investment (+10.7 per cent).

3 Property firm OUE has inked a deal with Oakwood Asia Pacific to manage and operate Oakwood Premier OUE Singapore. The serviced residences will be at OUE Downtown in Shenton Way.

4 BreadTalk has repurchased 134,000 of its shares at around 99.317 cents apiece. It spent about $133,497 on this purchase.

5 Serial System's unit Serial Microelectronics has increased its investment in its South Korean subsidiary, Serial Microelectronics Korea, from 98.2 per cent to 100 per cent for about 331.17 million Korean won (S$408,000).