STI bucks Wall Street rally to end 0.7% lower
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
On the 30-stock STI, only eight managed to finish trading higher, while four were unchanged and the rest ended in the red.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Tay Peck Gek
SINGAPORE - The Straits Times Index (STI) was 0.7 per cent or 25.61 points lower at 3,614.58 points on Oct 21, despite the rally on Wall Street on Oct 18.
The benchmark performance was in line with the broader market, which saw decliners beating gainers 324 to 251. Some 1.2 billion of securities valued at $896.7 million were traded.
On the 30-stock STI, only eight managed to finish trading higher, while four were unchanged and the rest ended in the red. The three banking stocks, which account for over 40 per cent of the benchmark index, all closed lower.
DBS Bank dipped 54 cents or 1.4 per cent to $39.16, OCBC Bank was down 12 cents or 0.8 per cent at $15.28, and UOB declined 12 cents or 0.4 per cent lower to $32.48.
Global stocks kicked off the week on the back foot when markets opened on Oct 21 after strong gains last week, while increasing bets on Donald Trump winning the looming US presidential election helped send Bitcoin and gold to new peaks.
The Republican candidate’s tariff, tax and immigration policies are seen as inflationary, negative for bonds and positive for the dollar. Trump is expected to take a more favourable stance towards cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin retreated after gaining almost 10 per cent last week to hit its highest since late July at around US$69,487.
Heightened uncertainty over conflict in the Middle East added to the appeal of gold, which hit new record highs of around US$2,733 an ounce.
REUTERS, THE BUSINESS TIMES
