Singapore shares slide 0.9% on Wednesday after sell-off on Wall Street

SINGAPORE shares ended lower on Wednesday, following a Tuesday sell-off on Wall Street as investors continued to be jittery over US threats to hike tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday.

Market watchers noted that the move by the US could dash investors' hopes for a trade deal.

The Straits Times Index (STI) reversed Tuesday's 0.7 per cent gain to close at 3,283.84 on Wednesday, down 28.68 points or 0.9 per cent. The benchmark index has fallen by 108.45 points or 3.2 per cent since last Friday, the session before US President Donald Trump's tweet on Sunday.

"It had been a sea of red as markets in Asia digested the fact that Friday's tariff implementation from the US could become a reality and further hurt the precarious global growth situation," IG market strategist Pan Jingyi said of Wednesday's trading session in Asia.

Moreover, China's April trade figures - which were mixed - did little to improve market sentiment.

"Asia prefers to look nervously at Wall Street's overnight losses and that dirty two-word phrase, trade talks," Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley commented.  

In Singapore, volumes were heavy, clocking in at 1.48 billion securities or 17 per cent over the daily average in the first three months of 2019. Meanwhile, total turnover came to S$1.09 billion, 6.4 per cent more than the January-to-March daily average.

Across the market, decliners outpaced advancers 258 to 155. Meanwhile, the benchmark index had 23 of the STI's 30 components trading in the red.

The banking trio pulled back from gains made on Tuesday.   

DBS Group Holdings fell S$0.19 or 0.7 per cent to S$26.58, OCBC Bank slipped S$0.13 or 1.1 per cent to S$11.44 while United Overseas Bank dropped S$0.27 or 1 per cent to end at S$25.73. Of the three, only OCBC has yet to announce its earnings for the first quarter, which are due on Friday.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the blue chip index's most traded with 25.6 million shares changing hands. The shipbuilder closed one Singapore cent or 0.7 per cent down at S$1.52.

Bucking the trend on Wednesday was Isetan Singapore. The Japanese department store operator finished at S$3.47, up two Singapore cents or 0.6 per cent. The counter has added 12 per cent since announcing on Monday before market open that the lease for its loss-making store in Westgate Mall will not be renewed. 

With investors turning to safe-haven assets, gold prices rose to their highest in over a week. The metal was trading at US$1,287.27 per ounce as at 5.02pm Singapore time.