STI rises 0.5%, tracking regional indexes

SINGAPORE – Wall Street’s continuing woes overnight again failed to dent buying enthusiasm among local investors, who ended an up-and-down week on a decidedly positive note on Aug 22.

The upbeat mood lifted the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) 0.5 per cent or 22.12 points to 4,253.02, with the 330 gainers leaving the 176 losers far behind on modest trade of 1.4 billion securities worth $1.3 billion.

Most regional bourses also ended in the black. South Korea’s Kospi and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong both rose 0.9 per cent, while Malaysian shares added 0.3 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1 per cent.

Profit-taking and some disappointing corporate updates hit Australia’s ASX 200, sending it down 0.6 per cent from Aug 21’s record close.

Wall Street had little effect on regional investors, given attention in New York was fixed on US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole central bankers’ get-together overnight.

The Dow Jones and tech-focused Nasdaq closed 0.3 per cent lower, while the S&P 500 index shed 0.4 per cent, its fifth straight session of decline.

Mr Kai Wang, Asia equity market strategist at Morningstar, said the market is less optimistic that the Fed will cut interest rates in September.

“Both tech and financial services saw the biggest drawdowns, given that concerns over the semiconductor sector’s high valuations resurfaced” ahead of the Jackson Hole speech, he said.

The fear that there will be no September rate cut prompted investors to cut their risk exposure and take profits, Mr Wang noted.

Back home, telco Singtel was the STI’s top gainer, advancing 2.2 per cent to $4.20, while DFI Group was again the biggest loser, falling 1.3 per cent to US$3.12 to compound the 11 per cent decline on Aug 21.

The local banks all ended higher. DBS Bank was up 0.4 per cent to $50.81, UOB rose 0.9 per cent to $35.40 and OCBC Bank gained 0.2 per cent to $16.91.

THE BUSINESS TIMES