Singapore stocks lose ground for sixth straight session, STI sheds 0.7%

SINGAPORE – Local shares ended the week as they had begun – well in the red, to make it a sorry six in a row.

Concerns over United States interest rates yet again sparked jitters among investors here and elsewhere, helping to send the Straits Times Index down 22.82 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 3,173.93.

Losers outpaced gainers 372 to 246 on trade of 1.2 billion shares worth $1.1 billion.

Regional indexes were also down, tracking falls on Wall Street, which declined for a third straight session overnight. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 2 per cent in its final hour of trade, while the Bursa Malaysia edged down 0.1 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi finished 0.6 per cent lower – a sixth straight day of losses – while the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6 per cent as Japan’s July core inflation fell to 3.1 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent in June.

Australian shares were little changed but the 2.7 per cent fall this week was their worst since August 2022.

IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said sentiment continued to reel from the “hawkish takeaway” in the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes.

He reckoned rates there will be kept high for longer, and push the US Treasury yields “to retest their recent highs”.

“The US two-year yields continue to hover just below the 5 per cent mark, while the 10-year yields briefly touches its October 2022 peak overnight,” Mr Yeap added.

Wilmar International was the STI’s only gainer, ticking up 0.3 per cent to $3.60, while the biggest loser was Sembcorp Industries, down 3.6 per cent to $5.38.

Singapore Post climbed 3.1 per cent to 50 cents on the broader market after reporting 11.8 per cent growth in first-quarter operating profit to $11.9 million.

The banks were down once again: DBS fell 0.2 per cent to $32.72; UOB fell 0.6 per cent to $27.93; and OCBC dipped 0.3 per cent to $12.27.

THE BUSINESS TIMES