Singapore shares rise as market awaits signals on interest rate cuts; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE – Local investors again shrugged off the tech bloodletting on Wall Street to push shares higher on Aug 21.

Still, there was a cautious approach, with many wary ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision on interest rates.

The mixed sentiment left the Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.3 per cent or 11.36 points at 4,230.90 with gainers having a far more productive day, outstripping losers 314 to 167. Trade was again middling with 1.7 billion securities worth $1.5 billion done.

In-flight caterer Sats was the STI’s top gainer, rising 2.5 per cent to $3.26, while DFI Retail Group was in the blue-chip basement, sliding 11 per cent to US$3.16.

The local banks ended mixed: DBS was up 1.2 per cent to $50.60 and UOB rose 0.3 per cent to $35.09, but OCBC fell 0.1 per cent to $16.87.

There was little direction from Wall Street overnight, where the tech sell-off continued, leaving the Nasdaq down 1.5 per cent.

The mega caps Palantir, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices took the biggest hits for the second day running. The S&P 500 fared slightly better, falling 0.6 per cent, while the Dow Industrials finished up 0.1 per cent.

Major regional indexes were mixed as well. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4 per cent and Malaysia’s KLSE gained 0.3 per cent, but the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.7 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.2 per cent.

Australian shares put on a record-breaking show, surging 1.1 per cent to close over the 9,000-point mark for the first time.

Mr Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said: “An acknowledgement from US Fed chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole that the central bank ought to resume its walk down the monetary policy stairs at its next meeting in September could shake the markets from their recent malaise. I believe 75 basis points of cuts from here would still place us in restrictive territory and is well justified.”

THE BUSINESS TIMES