Singapore stocks end lower on Monday, STI down 0.3%

SINGAPORE - Singapore stocks ended lower on Monday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) losing 0.3 per cent, or 8.97 points, to 3,257.66.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 290 to 249, after 1.2 billion securities worth $922.2 million changed hands.

The decline occurred despite last Friday’s gains on Wall Street.

Mr Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that US equities had ended stronger on Friday after four days of decline.

But anxiety over US default is at an all-time high, even as US stocks remained relatively resilient to debt-ceiling fears in other parts of the market, he said.

Regional markets saw mixed trading. The Hang Seng Index was up 1.2 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index gained 0.5 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rose 0.2 per cent.

There were gains in China amid relative calm and positive sentiment across financial markets.

Shares of Chinese banks climbed after at least three nationwide lenders lowered deposit rates, and attention will swing to China’s trade figures due early this week and inflation numbers set for release on Thursday.

Japan’s Topix fell as traders in the nation returned from Golden Week holidays, with a gauge of bank shares falling more than 1 per cent. The Nikkei 225 index slid 0.7 per cent.

In Singapore, the trio of local banks ended mixed on Monday.

DBS rose 0.2 per cent to $31.95, UOB gained 1.5 per cent to $28.41, while OCBC declined 3.2 per cent to $12.25.

The top gainer on the STI was Jardine Matheson Holdings, rising 1.7 per cent to close at US$50.18. Venture Corp led the decline on the STI, falling 6.5 per cent to $15.95.

Elsewhere, oil ticked higher as investors assessed a complex outlook for global demand after a period of volatile trading. Gold also gained.

THE BUSINESS TIMES,

BLOOMBERG