Singapore stocks rise on US-UK trade deal; STI up 0.7%

SINGAPORE – News that the US has struck a trade deal with Britain – the first since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs worldwide – gave local investors a welcome boost on May 9.

The optimistic response to the deal sent the Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.7 per cent or 27.94 points to 3,876.16, with gainers outstripping losers 272 to 206 on lacklustre trade of 810.1 million securities worth $1.1 billion.

Regional markets were equally keen. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.4 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1.6 per cent and Malaysian shares added 0.2 per cent.

The ASX 200 in Sydney advanced 0.5 per cent after hitting a two-month high earlier.

Those gains were underpinned by a positive session on Wall Street overnight on the back of the trade deal that Mr Trump dubbed “full and comprehensive”.

The Nasdaq added 1.1 per cent while the Dow and S&P both rose 0.6 per cent.

Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya questioned if the trade agreement was significant – while Britain managed to cut levies on cars and steel, its tariff rate was unchanged at 10 per cent.

Sentiment remains fragile, she said, as enthusiasm was dented by questions over the deal and the challenges ahead.

“Trump’s enthusiastic announcement, complete with a lot of capital letters, helped inflate sentiment, making this deal feel bigger than it actually is.”

She added that the share market response suggests that “investors are eager for good news and react positively – even if the news isn’t that great. It’s all in how it’s delivered and apparently, that’s all that matters”.

ST Engineering was the STI’s top gainer, rising 1.6 per cent to $7.63, while Jardine Matheson Holdings led the losers, falling 1.6 per cent to US$46.49.

The local banks ended higher. DBS gained 1.4 per cent to $43.71, OCBC rose 0.4 per cent to $16.23, and UOB added 0.8 per cent to $34.83.

THE BUSINESS TIMES