Singapore, Asia markets end higher ahead of Trump-Xi talks; STI up 0.9%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks rose on Tuesday (Sep 22) amid a positive showing by broader Asia markets.

This comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US for talks with US President Donald Trump, to further discussions on trade, managing the artificial intelligence race and geopolitics.

The visit to Washington DC will be Xi’s first in 11 years.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.9 per cent or 48.53 points to finish at 5,723.76.

Seatrium led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 4.9 per cent or S$0.10 to S$2.15.

The worst performer among STI constituents was CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , which fell 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.24.

The three local banks ended higher. DBS gained 0.6 per cent or S$0.44 to S$77.80, OCBC rose 1.5 per cent or S$0.47 to S$32.14, and UOB was up 1.7 per cent or S$0.70 at S$42.80.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, AEM was the top gainer, rising 4 per cent or S$0.40 to S$10.35, while Yanlord Land was the biggest loser, falling 3.7 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.515.

Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 305 to 232, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$2.2 billion changed hands.

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Key regional indices were positive. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.2 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 1 per cent.

Tech plays such as leading South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix received a boost, following Wall Street peers as early signs of success emerged for Meta Platforms’ new AI agent, Muse AI.

Tencent also ticked higher after signs of Muse AI’s success. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said this comes on the back of hopes that the Chinese company can come up with an AI agent, similar to Muse AI, on its WeChat platform.

Eugene Leow, senior rates strategist at DBS, said that at this juncture, investors are hopeful about constructive talks at the Trump-Xi meeting, with early speculation that the trade war truce – which expires on Nov 10 – will be extended.

More importantly, he added that because Trump did not escalate attacks on the Houthis, this allowed long-end Treasuries to take a “welcome breather”, as 10-year yields pulled back from 5 per cent.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a reporter