Singapore stocks fall on Monday amid regional decline; STI down 1%

SINGAPORE stocks fell on Monday (Apr 18), amid weakness seen across regional markets.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 1 per cent or 32.78 points to close at 3,303.07 . Meanwhile, key indices in Shanghai, Japan and South Korea also closed between 0.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent lower.

“In Asia, the ever-increasing sweep of Covid-19 lockdowns in China, and mixed data from the mainland have combined with weak US price action to push Asian markets lower,” said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley. 

He noted that China’s Q1 GDP growth of 4.8 per cent on year had beat expectations, but other data, such as retail sales and unemployment, were weaker in March than February.

China’s official 5.5 per cent GDP target becomes more challenging as consumer sentiment plummets, production costs rise and Covid policies threaten production and logistics, he added. “Eventually, this will weigh on other Asian markets as well.”

On the local bourse, Jardine Matheson ended at the bottom of the index performance table, after falling 1.9 per cent to close at US$55.54. The local banks were also among the top decliners, with shares of DBS and UOB downl 1.4 and 1.6 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Keppel DC Reit was the top STI gainer, rising 0.9 per cent to close at S$2.23. 

Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 209 to 151 after 1.1 billion securities worth S$864.8 million changed hands.

Sembcorp Marine shares were the most active by volume, gaining 1.7 per cent to close at S$0.122 after 234.7 million shares worth S$28.7 million were traded.