Singapore shares track Wall Street losses; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE – Losses on Wall Street overnight left local investors with nowhere to go but down on Friday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.4 per cent or 11.67 points to 3,292.39, though gainers beat losers 320 to 256 as 1.4 billion shares worth $1.14 billion changed hands.

The decline came after United States shares dipped again overnight. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3 per cent, its third straight day in the red, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.2 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched back 0.1 per cent.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong noted that Asian markets were subdued after those Wall Street declines, adding: “Following an 8 per cent rally in the STI since early July this year, some ‘sell-the-news’ seems to be playing out.”

The trio of local banks had a mixed day. UOB was the STI’s biggest loser, falling 3.4 per cent to $28.80, while OCBC Bank lost 0.8 per cent to $12.94 after posting a 34 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit to $1.7 billion, which slightly missed estimates. OCBC also declared an interim dividend of 40 cents a share, up 43 per cent year on year. It expects to deliver a stronger-than-expected net interest margin for 2023, but said it will stay prudent as the global growth momentum is expected to slow heading into 2024. Meanwhile, DBS gained 1.5 per cent to $34.25.

The STI’s biggest gainer was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which rose 1.9 per cent to $1.58. The shipbuilder posted a first-half net profit of 1.7 billion yuan (S$320 million), up 47 per cent year on year.

Key indexes were mixed elsewhere in the region. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 per cent, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.6 per cent, Australian shares added 0.2 per cent and the Malaysian KLCI rose 0.2 per cent, while the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.1 per cent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES