STI inches up 0.2% amid US debt ceiling crisis, ahead of China data

SINGAPORE shares finished modestly higher on Monday (May 15), as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of further data signals on China’s recovery and the uncertainty over the US debt ceiling stand-off.

The key Straits Times Index (STI) edged higher 6.17 points or 0.2 per cent to 3,214.72, as caution remained thick in the air following last Friday’s losses on Wall Street. Key gauges across the region were mixed, with gains in Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Australia, and losses in Malaysia and Taiwan.

In its daily update, IG Research said with broad expectations of an impending interest-rate pause and the mounting probability of a US recession, “bad news (on the economy) is bad news (for markets)“ appears to be the underlying theme.

China is due to report monthly industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data on Tuesday. The release of some data out of the world’s second-largest economy has so far sparked concerns as it could suggest that economic data is turning relatively less sanguine.

Back on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), about 1.5 billion units worth S$888 million changed hands on Monday. Gainers outpaced losers with 285 counters up and 271 down.

The trio of local banks came up among the bourse’s top gainers. DBS , OCBC and UOB all recently reported record net profits for the first quarter, bolstered by net interest income growth.

“The focus on interest rates has seen the trio of DBS, OCBC and UOB make up between 25 and 30 cents in every dollar that has gone to work in the Singapore stock market each day in 2022, and the 2023 year to May 10, up from 20 cents in the dollar in 2021 and 2020,” said SGX market strategist Geoff Howie.  

Genting Singapore also drew investor attention, showing up as the day’s second-most active counter with 108 million shares traded. The counter slipped S$0.08 or 7.2 per cent to S$1.03. Last Friday, the leisure and gaming giant reported a year-on-year trebling of Q1 net profit to S$129.2 million, as it continues to benefit from regional travel recovery and gaming demand.

Palm oil stalwart Golden Agri Resources closed unchanged at S$0.27. It was the eighth-most actively traded counter on Monday, with 19 million shares changing hands. The group reported a 51 per cent decline in Q1 net profit to US$92 million from the same period a year ago, on the back of lower and more normalised crude palm oil prices.

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RHB Research has issued a “buy” rating on the counter with a target price of S$0.31, citing improved earnings in the second half of the year on higher productivity and lower fertiliser cost.