Singapore stocks rise on July 7, with all eyes on trade deals as US tariff deadline looms

SINGAPORE – The local bourse kicked off the week on a positive note, even as markets monitored how the US tariff tango was unfolding.

The Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.5 per cent or 18.24 points at 4,031.86 on July 7. Across the broader market, gainers just about tied with losers at 252 to 251, with 1.2 billion securities worth $1.2 billion changing hands.

As the 90-day tariff truce is nearly up, markets are closely watching how trade deals unfold.

Maybank’s global market foreign exchange research and strategy team observed in a report on July 7: “Thailand offered greater markets access to US goods, India could strike a mini-deal and negotiate further within the next 48 hours, while South Korea has broached the idea of an extension.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was quoted as saying that several big pacts were close, and that some countries could have an option of a three-week extension.

The Maybank team wrote: “This would provide a de facto extension to the July 9 deadline and, at the same time, perpetuate the uncertainty in markets.”

Singapore faces the lowest tariff in the region – the baseline rate of 10 per cent.

The Republic’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on May 16 that the US has offered to discuss “some form of concession for Singapore to have an official preferential tariff, even to the extent of zero tariff, for pharmaceutical exports to the US”. In exchange, Singapore may have to ensure “a smoother flow of goods” and the “security of supply chains”.

On the STI, DFI Retail Group topped the list, rising 3.1 per cent, or nine US cents, to US$2.97 on July 7. Hongkong Land, on the other hand, was at the bottom, declining 2.1 per cent, or 13 US cents, to US$6.21.

Regional bourses closed the day mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.6 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2 per cent. The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.1 per cent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES