STI retreats 0.8% as traders go on defensive in face of volatile Wall Street

SINGAPORE - Declines on Wall Street overnight sparked by renewed inflation concerns put local investors on the defensive on April 3.

The sombre mood sent the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.8 per cent or 25.06 points to 3,222.66 with losers outnumbering gainers 293 to 235 across the broader market on trade of 1.7 billion shares worth $1.1 billion.

The trigger for slides here and across the region came from a volatile Wall Street, where the three key indexes fell around 1 per cent on fears that the Federal Reserve may be weighing up yet more interest rate hikes. Higher oil prices didn’t help the mood, either.

Regional bourses largely followed suit, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 1 per cent while the Kospi in South Korea dropped 1.7 per cent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 1.2 per cent.

Australian stocks dived a hefty 1.3 per cent, led by slumping tech and property shares, but Malaysia’s market rose 0.1 per cent.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said: “The decline across all three major US indices has put investors on edge. Historically, such market turbulence doesn’t bode well for Asian stocks, even if the outlook in Asia remains relatively positive given the gradually changing tides in China’s economic data.”

The STI’s top gainer was marine company Seatrium, which rose 1.2 per cent to 8.5 cents on trade of 438 million shares.

DFI Retail Group was at the bottom of the index, sliding 5.4 per cent to US$2.10.

Singtel lost 4.3 per cent to end at $2.43. The group had denied media reports over a potential deal regarding its unit Optus, after Australian media reported that talks with Canadian private equity firm Brookfield failed to result in a deal.

The banks ended lower. DBS Bank fell 0.3 per cent to $36.09, UOB decreased 0.4 per cent to $29.53 and OCBC Bank retreated 0.3 per cent to $13.60.

THE BUSINESS TIMES