Singapore stocks extend losses amid sea of red in region

SINGAPORE – Concerns over elevated interest rates in the United States hit local shares on Wednesday and extended losses for another day.

The unease sent the Straits Times Index down 0.6 per cent or 19.16 points to 3,213.58, with losers outstripping gainers 350 to 251 on trade of 1.2 billion shares worth $1.16 billion. The STI’s performance came after

modest falls in the three key US indexes

overnight on news that the country’s July retail sales increased 3.2 per cent year on year, outpacing the 1.5 per cent forecast and sparking fears of another round of interest rate rises.

IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong noted: “The pull-ahead in US retail sales provided some validation for soft-landing hopes but also left room for rates to be kept high for longer, with market sentiment seemingly placing its focus on the latter.”

The STI’s fall was mirrored in most regional indexes.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.8 per cent after returning from a public holiday, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.3 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.6 per cent and went below the 32,000 mark for the first time in over a month.

Australian stocks dived 1.5 per cent, wiping A$33 billion (S$29 billion) off the value of shares in what was the biggest one-day decline in six weeks, but Malaysian shares bucked the trend to inch up 0.2 per cent.

Gateway services group Sats was the STI’s biggest loser, plunging 3.1 per cent to $2.54, after the firm posted a first-quarter net loss of $29.9 million.

The index’s top gainer was developer Hongkong Land, up 1.7 per cent to US$3.70. Its first-half earnings dipped to US$422 million (S$573 million) from US$425 million in 2022.

All three local lenders continued to decline, tracking US bank stocks. UOB dropped 1.3 per cent to $28.28, OCBC fell 1 per cent to $12.37, while DBS shed 0.6 per cent to $33.10.

THE BUSINESS TIMES