Singapore shares rise as trade tensions between China and US ease; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE – Signs of a truce in the tense tariff stand-off between the US and China gave local shares a welcome nudge north on June 12.

While far from a ringing endorsement of an apparent trade deal, hopeful local investors still managed to push the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.1 per cent or 3.15 points to 3,922.2. Losers pipped gainers 252 to 236 on trade of 1.3 billion securities worth $1.2 billion in the broader market.

Jardine Matheson was the STI’s standout, rising 1.9 per cent to US$44.64, while in-flight caterer Sats led the losers, down 1.3 per cent to $3.11. The local banks ended lower: DBS Bank dropped 0.4 per cent to $44.67; UOB fell 0.1 per cent to $35.09; and OCBC Bank shed 0.1 per cent to $16.14.

There was not much for share investors to shout about on Wall Street overnight, where most action was in the markets for oil and government bonds, which rallied after the latest US inflation numbers.

Stocks had a lacklustre day with the S&P 500 down 0.3 per cent while Dow Jones Industrials was unchanged and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.5 per cent.

Major regional indexes had mixed sessions. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 per cent and Malaysian stocks gained 0.2 per cent but the Nikkei in Japan fell 0.7 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.4 per cent. Buoyant energy shares could not prevent the ASX in Sydney from sliding 0.3 per cent.

Mr Jose Torres, a senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said: “Markets are soaring following a lighter-than-anticipated (US) consumer price index report that is quelling fears about tariff-related inflation and boosting enthusiasm that the (US Federal Reserve) will cut rates in the next two or three meetings.”

He added that bulls are energised by a de-escalation in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, with US President Donald Trump remarking on June 11 that the relationship between the two economies is “excellent”.

THE BUSINESS TIMES