Singapore stocks track Wall Street decline
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Trading on STI falls within a “symmetrical triangle pattern”, which represents some market indecision.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Tan Nai Lun
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SINGAPORE – Local shares managed to keep the bloodshed to a minimum on Thursday after Wall Street tech stocks took a belting overnight.
While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded modest dips, the tech-heavy Nasdaq came under strong selling pressure and dived 1.2 per cent.
The response in Singapore was muted, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) down just 0.04 per cent or 1.23 points at 3,222.43. Losers pipped gainers 191 to 169 across the broader market after 700.8 million shares worth $945 million changed hands.
IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong noted that United States Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had made a series of hawkish comments on Wednesday, and that US equities “seem to be taking his words more seriously”.
He said that Mr Powell maintained his stance that the inflation fight “has a long way to go”, and that most central bank officials expect rates to rise further, although there was still a significant degree of data-dependence.
Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China were closed for holidays, offering a break for Chinese equities amid renewed tensions in the US-China relationship, Mr Yeap added.
The top gainer on the STI was DBS Bank, which rose 1.5 per cent to close at $31.82 while banking rivals UOB put on 0.2 per cent to $28.05 and OCBC Bank lost 1 per cent to $12.39.
Bourse operator Singapore Exchange was also one of the leading gainers, rising 1.3 per cent to $9.58.
The top decliner was Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, which fell 1.8 per cent to $1.64.
Key indices elsewhere in the region were mixed. Malaysian stocks gained 0.1 per cent and the Kospi in Seoul added 0.4 per cent but Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.9 per cent.
The big loser was Down Under, where Australian shares plunged 1.6 per cent – the third-worst day this year – on fears of further US rate hikes. THE BUSINESS TIMES
