Bulls And Bears

STI falls despite fresh $8b support measures for S'pore

Markets in region mixed, with concerns over ongoing China-US tensions

Rae Wee

Updated

Published

Aug 18, 2020, 05:00 AM

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ended yesterday down 9.77 points or 0.4 per cent at 2,571.55, even after the Singapore Government unveiled additional support measures totalling $8 billion to tide workers and businesses over the coronavirus pandemic.

The best performer among the index constituents was Thai Beverage Public Company (ThaiBev), which gained 4.96 per cent for the day to close at $0.635. It was also the most heavily traded stock, with 470.2 million shares traded over the course of the day. This came after the beverage giant posted resilient revenue and Ebitda - net income with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation - despite the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The STI's biggest decliner for the day was Genting Singapore, which lost 2.8 per cent to close at $0.70.

The trio of banks ended the day mixed. Shares of DBS Bank and OCBC Bank fell 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent to close at $21 and $8.91 respectively, while United Overseas Bank inched up 0.05 per cent to close at $20.08.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mixed. Weighing on investors' minds are the ongoing China-United States tensions and Washington lawmakers' struggle to hammer out a much-needed new stimulus.

Analysts said there was little reaction to news that trade review talks between the superpowers due to have taken place on Saturday had been postponed, though US President Donald Trump kept up his drumbeat against Beijing, warning he could target more Chinese tech firms, including Alibaba. The President's warning came as he issued another executive order stating that Internet giant ByteDance must sell its interest in the Musical.ly app it bought and merged with TikTok. While the measure did not cause a market sell-off, there are worries about how much Mr Trump will ratchet up tensions with Beijing as he struggles to retain the White House in November, with opinion polls showing him trailing Mr Joe Biden in key battlegrounds.

Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.8 per cent after official data showed the Japanese economy experienced a record quarterly contraction in the three months to June.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index dipped 0.3 per cent.

In contrast, the Hang Seng Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.34 per cent, with mainland stocks helped by a cash injection into financial markets by the Chinese central bank.