Here are the biggest gainers among Singapore stocks after Trump’s tariff timeout

SINGAPORE - Singapore’s benchmark stock index on April 10 rebounded from its worst drop in 25 years after US President Donald Trump called a

90-day pause on global tariffs

that had kicked in less than 24 hours before.

China, however, was excluded from the tariff timeout.

The Straits Times Index (STI)

surged 8.2 per cent as soon as trading opened,

taking its cue from the S&P 500, which closed up 9.5 per cent overnight in New York.

The Dow index ended 7.9 per cent higher, while the Nasdaq rose 12.2 per cent to notch its best day in 24 years.

The STI pared some gains and was up 5.7 per cent at 10.15am.

Here are the biggest intraday gainers on the STI so far on April 10:

Sats

Sats was the biggest gainer on the Singapore blue chip index, rising as much as 9.8 per cent to $2.70 after the market opened on April 9.

The air cargo and catering company took a hit when Mr Trump’s tariffs were first announced, and continued sliding as traders globally scrambled to reconfigure their supply chains and logistics arrangements.

DBS, UOB, OCBC

The three local banks jumped by an average of 9 per cent when the market opened.

UOB led the rebound, surging 9.3 per cent from the previous day’s close to trade at $33.87 at 9.30am. DBS rose 9.2 per cent, and is now above the $40 mark once more at $40.58. OCBC advanced 8.6 per cent to $15.66.

The banks’ rebound also follows details of the US Federal Reserve’s mid-March meeting, which were released on April 9.

The minutes showed that while Fed officials are worried that Mr Trump’s tariffs could deal a blow to economic growth, they are nevertheless not in a hurry to cut interest rates because they expect higher tariffs to boost inflation. 

Interest rate cuts reduce banks’ net interest margins and put pressure on their net interest income.

Seatrium

Seatrium was up 8.3 per cent to $1.82.

The builder of offshore oil and gas and renewables platforms, as well complex support vessels for the industry, took a hit as many of its clients are based in the US.

Baseline tariffs of 10 per cent on Singapore goods being imported to the US had kicked in on April 5.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding

The China-based shipbuilder rose 8 per cent to $2.02, despite the escalating tit-for-tat tariff war between the US and China.

Mr Trump more than doubled the levy on Chinese imports into the US – from 54 per cent to 125 per cent – on April 9, effective immediately, after China earlier announced that tariffs on US goods entering its shores would rise to 84 per cent from 34 per cent, effective April 10.

Shares of Yangzijiang had already been sliding after a US proposal to impose fees on Chinese-built vessels entering American ports in March.

ST Engineering

ST Engineering rose 6.4 per cent to $6.69.

The stock, which hit an all-time high of $6.91 on March 20, fell to $6.22 after tariffs kicked in for Singapore on April 5, prompting warnings from Singapore’s leaders of a likely slowdown in the Republic’s economy.

ST Engineering on April 10 also announced that it has been

awarded a contract worth $1.4 billion

to provide rail services for an upcoming MRT line in Taiwan.