Singapore shares start week in the red; STI down 0.6%
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The Straits Times Index (STI), the Singapore Exchange’s blue-chip barometer, fell 0.6 per cent or 19.9 points to 3,154.03.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Megan Cheah
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SINGAPORE – Singapore stocks declined on Monday amid mixed trading in Asia.
Losers outnumbered gainers 359 to 255 as 1.3 billion securities worth $1 billion changed hands.
The Straits Times Index (STI), the Singapore Exchange’s blue-chip barometer, fell 0.6 per cent or 19.9 points to 3,154.03.
Regional markets ended the day mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.3 per cent.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.8 per cent, as China slashed its one-year loan prime rate but kept its five-year rate unchanged.
In Singapore, the STI’s top gainer was Thai Beverage, which rose 0.9 per cent to 57 cents.
The beer and liquor giant posted a 3.4 per cent fall in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the nine months ended June 30.
Meanwhile, property group Hongkong Land was the biggest loser on the index, as it dipped 2.5 per cent to US$3.46.
The trio of local banks continued to track Singapore shares’ retreat on Monday.
OCBC shares shed 0.5 per cent or six cents to close at $12.21; UOB contracted 0.5 per cent or 15 cents to $27.78; and DBS ended the day at $32.52, down 0.6 per cent or 20 cents.
Saxo’s Apac strategy team said all eyes this week will be on US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s comments at the Jackson Hole symposium, which will be held from Thursday to Saturday.
“From recent commentaries, it appears that central bankers will keep the flexibility to hike rates further, while clearly avoiding committing to (cutting) rates soon,” said the team in a note. THE BUSINESS TIMES
