Singapore stocks extend losses as geopolitics, growth worries weigh; STI down 1.1%
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Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 338 to 196, after 1.15 billion securities worth $1.09 billion were traded.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Yong Jun Yuan
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SINGAPORE – Geopolitical concerns and souring expectations over interest rates combined to send local shares south on Thursday.
The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 1.1 per cent or 34.95 points down at 3,150.43, with losers easily outpacing gainers 338 to 196 on the broader market after 1.15 billion shares worth $1.09 billion were traded.
Major Asian bourses were deep in the red
The bloodshed was far greater in the region: Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.7 per cent, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbled 3 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9 per cent. The Australian market dived 1.2 per cent.
Singapore Exchange market strategist Geoff Howie suggested the weak investor sentiment was due in part to media reports noting that both the United States and China have low expectations over US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China.
He added that this could have coincided with a “broad risk-off tone”, particularly in stocks that are sensitive to US-China geopolitical risk or stocks that significantly outpaced in the first half of the year, such as Sembcorp Industries and Keppel Corp.
Investors might also be pricing in expectations of higher interest rates. Notably, the cut-off yield of Singapore’s six-month Singapore Treasury bill rose to 3.99 per cent at the close of the auction on Thursday, up from 3.89 per cent at auction on June 22.
Sembcorp led the index’s losses, falling 5 per cent to $5.38, while UOL was at the top of the table, gaining 2 per cent to $6.60.
The trio of local banks all ended in the red. DBS fell 1.6 per cent to $30.71, UOB was down 1.2 per cent to $27.51 and OCBC shed 1.1 per cent to $12.10. THE BUSINESS TIMES
