Singapore stocks falter amid sea of red in region; STI down 1.6%
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The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 78.98 points to 4,937.78.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Benjamin Cher
- Singapore shares fell on Feb 13, with the STI dropping 1.6 per cent. Losers outnumbered gainers, tracking regional market declines.
- Local banks and Hongkong Land saw declines in Singapore. Regionally, Nikkei and Hang Seng indexes also finished lower, following the trend.
- US stock reversals were caused by weak economic data, including plunging home sales and higher unemployment claims, alongside waning AI hopes.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Singapore shares ended lower on Feb 13, tracking losses on regional indexes.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 1.6 per cent or 78.98 points to 4,937.78. Meanwhile, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index nudged down 0.4 per cent or 6.06 points to 1,513.52.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 413 to 220, after 1.6 billion securities worth $2.6 billion changed hands.
CapitaLand Investment led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 1 per cent or three cents to $3.12. The worst performer among the STI constituents was Hongkong Land, which declined 3.4 per cent or 30 US cents to US$8.52.
The three local banks all ended lower. DBS Bank lost 1.2 per cent or 72 cents to finish at $57.06, OCBC Bank fell 3.1 per cent or 67 cents to $21.11, and UOB was down 2.6 per cent or $1.01 at $38.47.
On the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, the best performer was Boustead. It closed 1.3 per cent or three cents higher at $2.26.
The index’s biggest loser was iFast, which declined 4 per cent or 39 cents to $9.39.
Across the region, benchmark indexes finished the day lower. The Nikkei 225 was down 1.2 per cent, the Kospi inched down 0.3 per cent, the Hang Seng lost 1.8 per cent, and the KLCI slipped 0.7 per cent.
Mr Jose Torres, a senior economist at Interactive Brokers, noted that US stocks have experienced reversals after short rallies at the start of trading, as dwindling artificial intelligence hopes coincided with lacklustre economic data.
A sell-off on Feb 11 was sparked by nine out of the 14 major employment sectors in the US reducing headcount over the last 12 months, while a Feb 12 one was due to intraday news that existing home sales plunged in January. “Higher-than-expected unemployment claims didn’t help either, as equities head towards their third consecutive close in the red,” Mr Torres added. THE BUSINESS TIMES
