Singapore shares fall at Wednesday’s close, STI down 1.1%

SINGAPORE - Local shares reversed Tuesday’s gains to finish well down despite data from China that exceeded market forecasts and hopes for diplomatic efforts to rein in the Middle East crisis.

The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 35.21 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 3,136.62 on Wednesday, with losers outnumbering gainers 354 to 231 on trade of 1.2 billion shares worth $943 million.

Markets across the region mostly finished higher after stocks on Wall Street closed largely flat overnight on news that government bond yields hit fresh decade-plus highs.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added a modest 0.01 per cent, the Kospi rose 0.1 per cent, the ASX 200 gained 0.3 per cent and Malaysia’s KLCI closed up 0.1 per cent.

Hong Kong and Chinese bourses went the other way, with the Hang Seng down 0.2 per cent while Shanghai stocks fell 0.8 per cent.

This comes after China’s third-quarter gross domestic product data showed a 4.9 per cent improvement year on year, lower than the second quarter’s 6.3 per cent expansion, but higher than analyst expectations.

The Chinese market could be in for a bumpy recovery, said Saxo market strategist Charu Chanana, given that the property-sector overhang could still keep consumer and investment confidence weak.

“Adding to downside risks are also the expanded US chip curbs and a deteriorating global growth outlook,” she added, noting that the yuan’s appreciation could be short-lived, as China’s momentum remained weak.

The top gainers on the Singapore bourse were United Overseas Insurance (UOI), UOB’s insurance subsidiary, and the Shanghai-headquartered electric vehicle maker Nio. UOI rose 1.3 per cent to $6.20, and Nio added 0.6 per cent to US$8.49.

Jardine Matheson fell for a third straight day, down 1.2 per cent to US$41.86.

All three local banks also ended in negative territory. OCBC Bank fell 0.9 per cent to $12.95, UOB dipped 0.7 per cent to $28.10 and DBS Group Holdings finished 0.3 per cent lower at $33.35.

THE BUSINESS TIMES