Singapore shares fall 7.5% in line with losses in region

SINGAPORE - All 30 constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI) closed down on April 7, as regional indexes settled lower.

The STI declined 7.5 per cent or 285.36 points to 3,540.5.

The trio of local banks all fell. DBS lost 9.3 per cent or $4.02 to close at $39.28, OCBC declined 6.9 per cent or $1.15 to $15.47, and UOB shed 6.3 per cent or $2.23 to $33.23.

Marine stocks were the biggest losers on the benchmark index, led by Seatrium, which settled 14.4 per cent or 28 cents lower at $1.66. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding posted the second-largest fall, closing 11.5 per cent or 25 cents down at $1.92.

Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 612 to 137, with 2.69 billion shares worth $4.2 billion transacted.

Across the region, South Korea’s Kospi lost 5.6 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 7.8 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 13.2 per cent and the KLCI in Malaysia shed 4 per cent.

Wall Street is expected to see the bloodbath extend into this week, said Mr Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.

He added that market volatility as expressed by the Volatility Index has hit a peak since August 2024, as the S&P 500 looks set to join Nasdaq in bear territory in April 7’s futures trading.

US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans remain at the fore of the sell-off, with fresh market fears sparked by

China’s tit-for-tat 34 per cent tariff on US goods,

he said, noting that any hopes of a cautious response by China due to its prevailing domestic economic challenges have been dampened.

“Eyes will now turn to the European Union for any countermeasures, with one finding it hard to conclude that the worst of the trade tensions has passed,” said Mr Yeap.

THE BUSINESS TIMES