Singapore shares end down on April 25; STI slides 0.2%

SINGAPORE - Stocks on the Singapore market ended lower on April 25, as a smaller-than-expected gain in the Republic’s manufacturing output outweighed the improvement in sentiment amid the broadly more positive tone around trade discussions.

Factory output rose 5.8 per cent year on year in March, strengthening from February’s upwardly revised growth of 0.9 per cent.

However, the latest reading missed private-sector economists’ forecasts of an 8.1 per cent expansion in a Bloomberg poll.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 0.2 per cent or 8.14 points to 3,823.78.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 309 to 208, after a total of 1.4 billion securities worth $1.5 billion changed hands.

On the index, the top gainer was Hongkong Land, rising almost 10 per cent or 42 US cents to US$4.64.

At the bottom of the index was OCBC, which slid 3.9 per cent to $15.90 on ex-dividend.

The other two local banks closed higher, with DBS up 0.02 per cent at $42.35.

UOB gained 0.3 per cent to finish at $35.73.

“Singapore’s external demand is likely to weaken amidst tariff uncertainty and volatility, with various US consumer surveys from the Conference Board and University of Michigan already reflecting a slump in US consumer sentiment,” UOB Global Economics & Markets Research team said in a report.

Key indexes across Asia closed higher on April 25, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street as optimism around the easing of US-China trade tensions grew.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.9 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 per cent.

Both South Korea’s Kospi and Indonesia’s IDX Composite were up 1 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES