Singapore stocks retreat on weak China data, Middle East tensions; STI down 0.3%
Anita Gabriel
SINGAPORE shares capped an unremarkable, albeit choppy week on a low note on Friday (Jan 12).
Fresh tensions in the Middle East and latest data showing China’s full-year exports fell for the first time in seven years were enough to put traders off.
The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 9.69 points or 0.3 per cent to 3,191.72. Week on week, the STI gained 7.4 points or 0.2 per cent.
This followed Wall Street’s tepid overnight showing, which parsed slightly hotter-than-expected US inflation data with the key indices ending close to the flatline.
Analysts reckoned that as the road ahead for lower inflation appears bumpy, the Federal Reserve may choose not to move until the downward trend is clear. This, in turn, could result in markets seeing some volatility and expressing mixed signals as they continue to assess the extent of Fed cuts this year, said Maybank Research.
Key gauges in Asia closed lower except for Japan, which continued its week-long surge. Another dampener was data out of China – consumer prices declined for the third straight month due to weak domestic demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
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Across the broader market, turnover in the local bourse came in at 1.1 billion securities worth S$964.2 million. Losers outpaced gainers 251 to 239.
Singapore’s banking stalwarts all saw declines. DBS fell S$0.11 or 0.3 per cent to S$32.61, UOB retreated S$0.03 or 0.1 per cent to S$28.30, while OCBC lost S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent to S$12.89.
Ho Bee Land fell S$0.01 or 0.6 per cent to S$1.76. The real estate group said on Thursday that it expects net loss for the full year ended December 2023 to widen owing mainly to fair-value losses in the valuation of its portfolio of investment properties in London.
Singapore Exchange inched higher by S$0.04 or 0.4 per cent to S$9.89. In its latest market statistics report, the bourse operator said total market turnover in December 2023 in terms of value fell 3 per cent year on year to S$19 billion, with securities daily average value holding steady at S$951 million, up 2 per cent from a year ago.
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