Singapore shares close down following new US tariffs, STI drops 0.5%
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The STI closed down 0.5 per cent or 18.16 points at 3,890.76.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Benjamin Cher
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SINGAPORE - The Straits Times Index (STI) closed down after the US announced additional tariffs on March 4.
The STI closed down 0.5 per cent, or 18.16 points, at 3,890.76.
Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 359 to 182 after 1.8 billion shares worth $1.4 billion changed hands.
The trio of banks in Singapore closed lower on March 4, with DBS down 0.5 per cent or 24 cents at $45.53.
OCBC finished trading down 0.2 per cent or four cents at $17.17, while UOB was down 0.4 per cent or 15 cents at $38.20.
The top gainer was ST Engineering, which rose 2.7 per cent or 16 cents at $6.03.
The top loser was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which declined 3.3 per cent or eight cents at $2.34.
Across the region, major indexes closed lower, with the Kospi down 0.2 per cent and the Nikkei 225 down 1.2 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 0.3 per cent and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed down 1 per cent.
Markets also reacted to US tariffs on Canada and Mexico potentially becoming a reality after US President Donald Trump said that there was “no room left” for a deal.
The US also hiked tariffs on imports from China by 10 per cent on March 3, a move that markets anticipated but risks further unwinding of Chinese equities, said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.
“With tariffs increasingly becoming a reality, the expected market response was to de-risk, with major US indexes reversing course overnight – Nasdaq fell 2.6 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.8 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.5 per cent,” he said.
The only gainers were defensive sectors like real estate, consumer staples, healthcare and utilities.
Mr Yeap highlighted two key uncertainties in the global economic landscape – first, a wave of retaliatory trade measures may be triggered, with China, Mexico and Canada already signalling a potential tit-for-tat trade conflict; and second, recent concerns over US economic growth may be further intensified, adding to fragile sentiment amid weaker economic data. THE BUSINESS TIMES
