Singapore stocks end week lower amid regional declines

SINGAPORE – Local shares mirrored their regional peers’ slide on Friday, with traders searching in vain for some market direction.

The tepid mood sent the Straits Times Index (STI) down 1 per cent, or 30.83 points, to 3,191.6 and 2.1 per cent lower for the week.

Losers outnumbered gainers 341 to 209 after 1.8 billion shares worth $1.2 billion changed hands.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong noted that United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell had reiterated his hawkish tone overnight, but “Wall Street seems to be taking it in stride this time”, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq overturning their three-day losing streak.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s consumer price index was the focus here for the day:

Headline inflation shrank to 5.1 per cent year on year in May

from April’s 5.7 per cent.

Mr Yeap said: “With the Monetary Authority of Singapore leaning towards a pause in its tightening stance since April, more evidence of moderating inflation will be needed to provide the conviction that a reinstatement of tighter policies is not needed.”

Most counters in the benchmark index were in the red, with declines led by Seatrium, which fell 3.1 per cent to 12.5 cents.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was also one of the top decliners, falling 3 per cent to $1.28. The local banks closed lower: DBS fell 1.2 per cent to $31.43; OCBC lost 0.6 per cent to $12.32; and UOB ended 0.2 per cent lower at $27.99.

Venture Corp was the week’s top decliner, sliding 7 per cent over the five days to end at $14.96.

Elsewhere, most key regional indexes were well in the red too.

The Nikkei 225 Index lost 1.5 per cent, the Kospi in Seoul fell 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.7 per cent and Malaysian stocks slid 0.3 per cent.

Australian shares declined 1.3 per cent – its worst close in three weeks – and finished 2.1 per cent lower for the week.

THE BUSINESS TIMES