Singapore stocks tepid as US-China jitters sweep global markets; STI flat at open

SINGAPORE stocks opened flat before falling in Wednesday’s (Aug 3) early trade, as global markets were swept up in anxiety that US house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan could stoke US-China tensions.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.01 per cent or 0.27 point to 3,239.42 as at 9.01 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 53 to 38 after 32.1 million securities worth S$57.8 million changed hands. By 9.10 am, the index was down 0.1 per cent or 2.77 points to 3,236.38.

OCBC was among the most actively traded securities on Wednesday morning, gaining 1.7 per cent or S$0.20 to S$12.02, with 1.4 million shares changing hands as at 9.01 am. This came after the bank reported a 28 per cent rise in Q2 net profit to S$1.48 billion, underpinned by robust performance across its banking, wealth management and insurance businesses.

Sembcorp Marine was the most active counter by volume with 3.1 million shares traded as at 9.01 am, while the share price remained flat at S$0.112.

Another active counter was Raffles Medical Group with 885,500 shares traded, sending it up 1.6 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.27 as at 9.01 am. This is after analysts raised their target prices on the stock, encouraged by its 51.3 per cent rise in H1 profit.

Other banking stocks showed mixed performance. DBS was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$31.80, while UOB fell 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$27.71.

In the US, the hawkish tone of central bankers sent Wall Street stocks into volatile territory, before ending the day lower. Jitters over Nancy Pelosi’s movements in Taiwan and a potential response from China further hit sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.2 per cent to finish at 32,396.17 on Tuesday, while the more broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent to close at 4,091.19. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped by a narrower 0.2 per cent to 12,348.76 – with ride-hailing giant Uber surging 18.9 per cent as it doubled quarterly revenue.

The prospect of US-China tensions also weighed on European stocks, with the Stoxx 600 dipping 0.2 per cent on Tuesday. Disappointing euro zone manufacturing activity data added to the bearishness. Miners were among the biggest losers, falling 1.4 per cent as commodities’ prices dropped.

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Tokyo stocks opened higher, albeit with similar anxiety over the Pelosi visit. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.3 per cent or 94.72 points to 27,689.45, while the broader Topix index rose 0.2 per cent or 3.26 points to 1,928.75 in early trade.