STI bucks regional trend on back of mixed data
Golden Agri-Resources is most active counter, given elevated crude palm oil prices; other plantation owners fare less well
ON Monday, investors in Asia had to process mixed news flows from the weekend, such as last Friday's unexpectedly strong US jobs report and Sunday's poor Chinese export figures.
That said, Asian equity benchmarks in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan managed to get the week off to a positive start, although gains were capped on worries about the effect the US-China trade scuffle has had on the world's second largest economy.
Missing from the group was Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI). The local benchmark struggled for direction, spending most of the session hovering around last Friday's close, before slipping late to close at 3,179.82, a decline of 14.89 points, or 0.5 per cent.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Companies & Markets
Emerging-market optimism dashed by Fed as currencies, bonds sink
LHN warns H1 2024 net profit could decline by 28.6%
iPhone maker Hon Hai’s April sales rise 19% in positive signal
Worsening weather is igniting a US$25 billion market
TikTok tells advertisers: ‘We are not backing down’
EV automakers get reprieve in US tax credit rules