Singapore stocks surge as US inflation begins to slow; STI up 1.7%
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Key Asian markets all closed higher, mirroring that buoyant sentiment on Wall Street.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Jude Chan
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SINGAPORE – The more benign American inflation figures
Gainers blitzed losers 443 to 180, with 2.14 billion shares worth $1.93 billion traded. Key Asian markets all closed higher, mirroring Wall Street’s buoyant sentiment.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shot up a striking 7.7 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 3 per cent and the Kospi in South Korea added 3.3 per cent.
Australian shares put on 2.8 per cent to close at a five-month high. The marked gains followed a heady session on Wall Street with the three indices rising between 3.7 per cent and 7.4 per cent.
“The downside surprise in US inflation data has sparked the single best day for Wall Street since April 2020, as the significant underperformance in (inflation) drove a more dovish calibration of interest rate expectations,” said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.
“The sharp fall in the US dollar on the inflation data may provide huge relief for Asia indices – while fuelling hopes that seemingly less pressure on the Fed’s tightening process may provide lesser trade-off for global growth conditions.”
The top STI performer was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which jumped 7.8 per cent to $1.38. The counter was also the most heavily traded constituent stock, with 79.7 million shares changing hands.
Jardine Cycle & Carriage was at the bottom of the table, falling 2.8 per cent to $30.25. It was also the biggest loser for the week, shedding a total of 3.4 per cent.
The STI’s best performer for the week was CapitaLand Investment, which gained 10.9 per cent.
The local banks all closed higher. DBS climbed 0.7 per cent to $34.79, UOB rose 1 per cent to $29.50 and OCBC added 0.3 per cent to $12.27. THE BUSINESS TIMES
