Singapore stocks fall as Trump tariffs resume for now; STI retreats 0.6%
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The STI was led by DFI Retail Group, which rose 3 per cent to US$2.76.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Megan Cheah
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SINGAPORE – The Trump tariff roller coaster took another loop through markets on May 30 and helped depress shares across the region.
The latest twist in the seemingly never-ending saga came when a US appeals court paused a ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, and in turn stopped May 29’s rally dead in its tracks.
That left the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.6 per cent or 22.23 points to 3,894.6, with losers beating gainers 248 to 209 on trade of 1.3 billion securities worth $3.3 billion.
Ms Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote Bank, said the optimism triggered by the initial ruling that halted the “Liberation Day” tariffs “turned out too good to be true”, as it is now effectively on hold.
“If tariffs are ultimately found to be unlawful, the willingness of partners to make concessions during trade talks may shrink – not exactly ideal, especially given the critical window for negotiations,” she added.
Regional indexes reacted negatively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.2 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo declined 1.2 per cent and Malaysian shares slipped 0.7 per cent.
By contrast, Wall Street shrugged off the tariff news overnight and focused more on tech stocks after Nvidia posted robust earnings.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both rose 0.4 per cent while the Dow Industrials added 0.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, the STI was led by DFI Retail Group, which rose 3 per cent to US$2.76. After the market closed, the group said it will divest a 22.2 per cent stake in Robinsons Retail. DFI parent company Jardine Matheson did not fare so well, falling 2.4 per cent to US$44.50, after announcing that chief executive John Witt is retiring at the end of November.
The local banks were in the red: DBS fell 0.6 per cent to $44.72, UOB declined 1.2 per cent to $35.41, and OCBC retreated 1 per cent to $16.23. THE BUSINESS TIMES
