Singapore stocks rise after US court blocks Trump’s tariffs; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE – The move by a US court to block President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs gave regional shares a welcome lift on May 29.

Investors here were not overly fired up by the ruling but still nudged the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ahead 0.1 per cent, or 4.92 points, to 3,916.84. In the broader market, gainers thumped losers 309 to 170 on solid trade of 1.2 billion securities worth $1.3 billion.

The STI’s top gainer was the Singapore Exchange, which rose 2.3 per cent to $14.30.

Casino operator Genting Singapore was the biggest decliner, down 1.4 per cent to 69 cents. It was also the most active, with 64.3 million units traded.

The court ruling was released too late for Wall Street and the three major indexes slipped back a day after big gains in the previous session. Traders there were rattled by minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last rate meeting indicating concerns that the hefty tariff hikes would elevate prices and risk stoking higher inflation.

The Dow Industrials and S&P 500 both lost 0.6 per cent while the Nasdaq fell 0.5 per cent.

Markets across the region had better timing and rose on news that the trade court ruled that Mr Trump had overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties. The ruling also casts doubt on recent deals with Britain and China.

South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were both up 1.9 per cent and Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.2 per cent.

Mr David Chao, global market strategist for the Asia-Pacific at investment management firm Invesco, said the US court ruling on tariffs will result in a delay in trade deal announcements as countries adopt a wait-and-see approach.

Non-US assets are “increasingly attractive and poised for continued outperformance”, he added.

THE BUSINESS TIMES