STI falls 1% after Trump-Putin meeting
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The benchmark Straits Times Index closed 1 per cent or 43.15 points lower at 4,187.38.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Young Zhan Heng
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SINGAPORE – Singapore shares fell on Aug 18 following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug 15.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) closed 1 per cent, or 43.15 points, lower at 4,187.38.
Across the broader market, losers slightly edged out gainers 269 to 268, as 1.1 billion securities worth $1.5 billion changed hands.
The STI’s top gainer on Aug 18 was Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, which advanced 1.1 per cent, or one cent, to 90 cents.
The trio of local banks all closed lower. DBS Bank was down 0.6 per cent, or 30 cents, at $49.60; UOB fell 1.4 per cent, or 50 cents, to $34.84; and OCBC Bank shed 1.3 per cent, or 22 cents, to end the day at $16.68.
ST Engineering was the day’s biggest loser on the index, falling 3.8 per cent, or 32 cents, to finish at $8.14.
Across Asia, major indexes were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.5 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 per cent.
Ms Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said that although details of the Trump-Putin meeting are scarce, there are “no signs of fresh tensions”, and no new sanctions on countries that have continued buying Russian oil.
“Material progress (in the talks) could spark further oil weakness, a rally across equities and softer gold demand,” she added. THE BUSINESS TIMES
