Singapore stocks dismiss Wall St losses to track regional gains; STI up 0.1%
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
On the STI, the top gainer was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which rose 5.8 per cent to $2.18.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Tan Nai Lun
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – Local stocks disregarded losses on Wall Street overnight to track regional markets into positive territory on May 7.
The gains were on the light side with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) inching up 0.1 per cent or 4.96 points to 3,865.37 although, across the broader market, winners easily outpaced losers 302 to 194 on trade of 1.3 billion securities worth $1.7 billion.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.1 per cent, Shanghai shares added 0.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 per cent and Malaysian stocks put on 0.9 per cent but Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1 per cent.
The gains came despite losses on Wall Street over investor concerns about the impact of US tariffs and the lack of trade deals.
The People’s Bank of China announced its first interest rate cut since September to support economic activity.
Bank of Singapore chief economist Mansoor Mohi-uddin said the move was modest ahead of Beijing’s trade talks with Washington.
“We think the Trump administration’s 145 per cent tariffs on China’s goods will lead to an unsustainable US supply shock.
“A trade deal is thus likely in the next few months, enabling China’s markets to rebound,” he added.
The STI’s top gainer was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, up 5.8 per cent to $2.18. Frasers Logistics and Commercial Trust led the decliners, down 4.4 per cent to 86.5 cents.
Frasers posted a 13.8 per cent fall in distribution per unit to three cents for its first-half ended March 31, noting on May 7 that it faced challenges in its commercial portfolio and foreign exchange volatility.
The local banks ended mixed. OCBC Bank gained 0.2 per cent to $16.27 while DBS Bank fell 0.5 per cent to $42.76 and UOB slipped 1.4 per cent at $34.49.
UOB lost as much as 2.8 per cent during the session after posting flat first-quarter results that missed analyst expectations. The bank also halted its 2025 earnings guidance THE BUSINESS TIMES
