Singapore shares continue to climb on strong sentiment, tracking regional indexes; STI up 1%

SINGAPORE – Growing optimism that new deals struck with the US will bring stability to the global trading system spurred buying here and across the region on July 24.

The buoyant sentiment lifted the Straits Times Index (STI) by 1 per cent or 41.77 points to 4,273.05.

Trading volumes were solid with 2.4 billion shares worth $1.9 billion changing hands while gainers outnumbered losers 356 to 223.

The banks were among the big winners here, with DBS up 2.2 per cent to $49.21 while UOB added 0.3 per cent to $37.36 and OCBC advanced 0.3 per cent to $17.27.

ST Engineering was the STI’s top gainer, up 7.1 per cent to $8.86; Hongkong Land was the biggest loser, down 2.2 per cent to US$6.19.

Key regional bourses were mostly on the same page as the STI. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent and Malaysian shares gained 0.7 per cent.

Australia was the outlier, with the ASX 200 down 0.3 per cent on concerns about delayed interest rate cuts.

Wall Street kept powering ahead overnight, driven by the deal made with Japan and promising talks with the European Union.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent to a third straight record; the Nasdaq advanced 0.6 per cent to end above 21,000 points for the first time. The Dow closed a fraction shy of the high set in December.

Traders are optimistic that the worst-case tariff scenarios may have been priced too pessimistically, said SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes.

The Japan deal cut tariffs on imports to 15 per cent, rather than the 25 per cent that US President Donald Trump had earlier threatened.

Talk that the EU accord could mirror the same 15 per cent figure has boosted stocks, added Mr Innes, noting: “Markets, ever forward-looking, are repositioning for a softer landing.”

THE BUSINESS TIMES