Singapore shares rise before Chinese New Year break; STI up 0.1%
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The half-day of trading left the Straits Times Index up a modest 0.1 per cent or 4.36 points at 3,801.07.
PHOTO: BT FILE
Tan Nai Lun & Romaine Chan
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SINGAPORE – The tech-stock meltdown that hammered Wall Street overnight had little effect here as investors wound down for the Chinese New Year break on a positive note, albeit a muted one.
The half-day of trading left the Straits Times Index (STI) up a modest 0.1 per cent, or 4.36 points, at 3,801.07. In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 249 to 186 on thin trade of 622.7 million securities worth $904.1 million.
CapitaLand Ascendas Reit was the STI’s biggest gainer, up 2 per cent to $2.61, with Sembcorp Industries at the other end of the spectrum, down 2.2 per cent to $5.43. The local banks were mixed. OCBC Bank lost 0.3 per cent to $17.04 and UOB fell 0.4 per cent to $36.87, but DBS Bank gained 0.3 per cent to $43.73.
The placid scenes in Singapore were in stark contrast to Wall Street, which was roiled by the bombshell launch of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek, whose sophisticated but bargain-priced product immediately undercut the sky-high valuations of big-name US giants. Nvidia, whose chips power many of the top AI models, plunged 17 per cent, wiping US$590 billion (S$797.35 billion) from its market value.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq dived 3.1 per cent and the S&P 500 declined 1.5 per cent but the Dow Jones index, which has limited tech exposure, gained 0.7 per cent for the day.
“There may be some ‘sell first, think later’ thinking at play, with opinions still divided on whether DeepSeek will eventually be the game changer that reshapes the US AI landscape,” said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.
“But if anything, market participants dislike uncertainties, and are clearly unwilling to take the risks in the near term.”
Several regional markets were closed on Jan 28, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Shanghai. Australian tech shares were also smashed alongside their Wall Street peers but the overall market was trading flat, thanks to strength in retailers, communication services and banks.
Singapore’s market reopens on Jan 31. THE BUSINESS TIMES
