Singapore shares rise on April 17 despite Wall St retreat; STI up 1.6%

SINGAPORE – Local shares again defied a downbeat Wall Street overnight and tracked regional bourses well into positive territory on April 17.

The buoyant mood sent the Straits Times Index (STI) up a solid 1.6 per cent, or 57.88 points, to 3,720.33. Gainers easily outpaced losers 361 to 179 in the broader market on trade of 1.2 billion shares worth $1.4 billion.

Major regional indexes followed much the same game plan. The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.9 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 1.4 cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng put on 1.6 per cent.

Malaysian shares rose a more modest 0.4 per cent, while the ASX 200 in Australia jumped 0.8 per cent on energy shares and gold stocks, which were especially upbeat after the metal rose to an all-time high of US$3,357.78 an ounce, driven by investor concerns about the economic toll of the tariff conflict.

The regional rally was out of step with Wall Street, where shares took another turn down after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned of the risks of the Trump trade war, noting that it could slow the economy and raise inflation more than earlier thought.

The tech stock sell-off worsened after Nvidia said US government rules curbing its exports of chips to China would hit its bottom line. That sent the Nasdaq down 3.1 per cent, while the S&P 500 dropped 2.2 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial fell 1.7 per cent.

The market swings are a by-product of trade uncertainties, said Mr Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research at Mizuho Securities.

The three Singapore banks continued to bounce back: DBS Bank added 1.8 per cent to close at $40.83; OCBC Bank rose 2 per cent to $15.98; and UOB increased 2 per cent to $34.80.

DFI Retail Group stayed in the top spot on the STI, closing 7.6 per cent higher at US$2.41, while Wilmar was the biggest loser, shedding 1 per cent to close at $3.09.

THE BUSINESS TIMES