Singapore stocks close flat as traders keep watch on rates, inflation
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The downbeat mood left the Straits Times Index down 0.04 per cent or 1.37 points at 3,205.91.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Uma Devi
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SINGAPORE – The market limped to a flat ending for the shortened trading week after investors exercised caution and kept a wary eye on data.
The downbeat mood left the Straits Times Index down 0.04 per cent, or 1.37 points, to 3,205.91, with losers pipping gainers 266 to 254 on trade of 1.6 billion shares worth $1.9 billion.
Saxo market strategist Charu Chanana said there are likely to be rising risks of a slowdown as rate hikes filter through to the economies.
“Even as the markets are currently looking more positive as the banking crisis and debt ceiling risks (have) been averted, a focus on economic data will likely be back” in the second half, she added.
Regional markets were mixed. The Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 each lost 0.1 per cent, and Bursa Malaysia shed 0.8 per cent. The Kospi was up 0.6 per cent, while Australian shares rose 0.1 per cent to end the Australian financial year at a hefty 9.7 per cent ahead.
Wall Street had a better time of it, with banks and industrials helping to drive indexes higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq finished flat but on course to set its best first half of a year on record.
Automotive stocks were among the leading gainers here. Jardine Cycle & Carriage came out tops, rising 2.9 per cent to $34.80. Nio was another notable advancer, gaining 3.6 per cent to US$9.58.
The trio of lenders ended the day mixed: UOB added 1 per cent to $28, and OCBC rose 0.2 per cent to $12.28, but DBS slipped 0.03 per cent to $31.51.
Jardine Matheson Holdings was among the worst decliners, falling 2.1 per cent to US$50.65.
Seatrium was the most heavily traded, with 369 million shares done. The stock fell 0.8 per cent to 12.5 cents.
Other heavily traded counters were Singapore Airlines, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Golden Agri-Resources. THE BUSINESS TIMES
