Singapore shares mirror Asian indexes; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE – Local shares managed to avoid the bloodletting seen again on Wall Street overnight as fears of an escalating trade war occupied US investors.

It wasn’t much of a boost but the Straits Times Index (STI) did manage to eke out a 0.2 per cent rise on March 5 to close up 7.64 points at 3,898.40, with gainers thumping decliners 338 to 205 on trade of 1.5 billion shares worth $1.4 billion.

The local banks were mixed: DBS rose 0.2 per cent to $45.62; OCBC finished flat at $17.17; while UOB fell 0.1 per cent to $38.16.

The STI’s top gainer was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, up 3 per cent to $2.41, while DFI Retail Group led the losers, shedding 1.9 per cent to US$2.10.

Regional indexes also rose. The Kospi in Seoul advanced 1.2 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.2 per cent, the Hang Seng jumped 2.8 per cent and Malaysian shares put on 0.6 per cent. The Australian market was the outlier, falling 0.7 per cent – its second consecutive session in the red.

Trade tensions continue to weigh on the earnings outlook for US stocks, said Mr Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

A big risk with the US “trade reset” is that physical goods become unaffordable for US families. Coupled with government spending reductions, this is driving investor fears of a recession, he noted, adding: “Consumer spending exhaustion and government expenditure reductions are worse for equities than inflation, as the former forces weigh on earnings momentum.”

Wall Street certainly got the message overnight.

US shares keep sliding after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the red for 2025. The blue-chip benchmark slid 1.6 per cent to be down 23 points for the year. The S&P 500 slipped 1.2 per cent, wiping out gains since the November elections, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.4 per cent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES