Singapore stocks finish flat amid mixed showing in region
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The benchmark Straits Times Index closed almost flat, down 0.4 points at 3,831.92.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Ranamita Chakraborty
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SINGAPORE – Local stocks ended April 24 muted, amid a mixed showing by other Asian markets after China signalled its openness to trade talks and US President Donald Trump suggested potential tariff cuts on Beijing.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) closed almost flat, down 0.4 points at 3,831.92.
Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 271 to 260, with 1.2 billion securities worth $1.6 billion traded.
Singapore’s trio of local banks ended the day in the red. DBS Bank was down 1.3 per cent or 54 cents at $42.34, OCBC Bank slipped 0.3 per cent or five cents to $16.54, and UOB fell 1 per cent or 34 cents to finish at $35.61.
Their declines came after their shares had climbed around 8.2 per cent on average in the last two weeks, after Mr Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement sparked a sell-off.
On the STI, the Singapore Exchange was the biggest gainer, rising 4 per cent or 56 cents to $14.50.
At the bottom of the index was Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT), which shed 4.1 per cent, or five cents, to end at $1.16. This came after MLT’s fourth-quarter distribution per unit fell 11.6 per cent to $0.01955 due to lower revenue contribution from China and weak regional currencies. Its manager also warned that trade tensions could weigh on performance.
Elsewhere in the region, key indexes were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.5 per cent, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.1 per cent.
The Asean region is expected to see subdued inflation and contained commodity prices as a result of slowing external demand from the US amid the ongoing tariff uncertainties, said RHB group chief economist Barnabas Gan.
“Our base-case view suggests that moderate supply chain congestion could push inflation higher in the US, while lower commodity prices lead to softer inflation across Asean countries, including Singapore,” he said.
He added that Singapore’s economy is likely to face further pressure from “rising trade tensions, which could increase economic uncertainty, dampening global business investment and consumer spending”.
As a result, RHB expects Singapore’s gross domestic product growth to slow to around 2 per cent, with risks tilted towards the lower end of a 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent range due to “heightening uncertainties on the external front”. THE BUSINESS TIMES
