Seatrium dives after results release, pulling STI down 1.1%

SINGAPORE – Some lacklustre local earnings reports and a significant slide on Wall Street overnight led investors here to dump stocks on Aug 2. The market retreat left the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) down 1.1 per cent or 38.39 points at 3,381.45, with losers outpacing gainers 422 to 199 on trade of 1.3 billion shares worth $1.7 billion.

Wall Street set the tone after disappointing earnings results and poor economic data on jobs, manufacturing and construction unnerved investors. That sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down nearly 500 points or 1.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq fell 2.3 per cent and the S&P 500 endured its largest intraday swing since November 2022 to end 1.4 per cent lower.

Regional bourses followed suit. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 2.1 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi declined 3.7 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Japan plunged 5.8 per cent and Malaysian shares lost 0.8 per cent.

Australian stocks closed 2.1 per cent lower – marking their worst day in nearly two years.

Back home, offshore and marine player Seatrium fell 11.3 per cent to $1.49, making it the STI’s biggest loser. It posted a profit of $36 million for the first half, reversing from a loss in the year-ago period.

Pan-Asia retailer DFI Retail Group led the index, gaining 2.3 per cent to US$1.78. It more than doubled underlying profit for the six months to June 30 to US$75.6 million (S$100.7 million).

The local banks retreated. DBS declined 1.86 per cent to $35.31, OCBC Bank edged down 0.13 per cent to $14.80, and UOB shed 0.66 per cent to $31.83.

RHB analysts said on Aug 2 after UOB’s second-quarter results that the bank’s preference for capital retention means yields and dividend per share growth are more muted, even as investors focus on dividend yields during a rates down cycle. THE BUSINESS TIMES