Singapore stocks fall on Monday amid mixed regional trading, STI down 0.8%

SINGAPORE stocks ended lower on Monday (Oct 17) amid mixed regional trading, tracking last Friday’s decline on Wall Street due to persistent inflation concerns.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.8 per cent or 23.86 points to close at 3,015.75.

Losers outnumbered gainers 328 to 217, after 1.8 billion securities worth S$1.4 billion changed hands.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding led the decline on the STI, shedding 2.6 per cent to close at S$1.14. Some 36.4 million shares worth S$41.2 million were traded.

The trio of local banks also fell on Monday. DBS lost 2 per cent to S$32.42, UOB lost 0.7 per cent to S$26.09, while OCBC lost 1 per cent to S$11.48.

The top gainer on the STI was Thai Beverage , rising 3.5 per cent to close at S$0.585. Some 44.6 million shares worth S$25.6 million changed hands, making it one of the top traded counters by volume on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, key indices were mixed. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index gained 0.3 per cent, the SSE Composite Index rose 0.4 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index was up by 0.2 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 Index declined 1.2 per cent.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said: “Persistent inflation will keep macro headwinds front and centre as we enter the bulk of earnings season over the next two weeks, as rates search for an adequate de-risking level amid elevated volatility.”

He also noted that Asian stocks continued their decline this week, with investors disappointed by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech, which ruled out changes to strict Covid rules and real estate policies.

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Innes expects the continued destabilisation of the 10-year bond will remain a significant risk headwind, adding that this will likely get worse before it gets better in the week as the Bank of England steps back from bond buying.

“The market is now firmly in a “show me the data” state for inflation, where next month’s headline reading will likely be another strong one given rising gas levels,” he said.