Cautious trading for Singapore stocks on Monday; STI down 0.6%

SINGAPORE stocks ended lower on Monday (Jun 19), as investors traded with caution amid an uncertain economic outlook.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent or 18.86 points to 3,241.17. Losers outnumbered gainers 298 to 225, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$905.9 million changed hands.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that investors likely shifted their focus to China given that US markets were closed for a holiday.

But a downgrade in gross domestic product expectations for China had “darkened the outlook in a week (in which) many had high hopes”, and pushed back optimism about a stimulus from the Chinese central bank as well as improved China-US relations, Innes said.

A wide disparity between the US Federal Reserve and markets’ forward inflation expectations also drove cautious trading, he added.

Elsewhere in the region, key indices were in the red. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 per cent, the Nikkei 225 lost 1 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index slid 0.6 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index ended 0.1 per cent lower.

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Within the Singapore market, Singapore Airlines (SIA) was the top-traded counter by value, losing 1.3 per cent or S$0.10 to close at S$7.67.

On Friday, the flag carrier refuted a media report that said it may raise its stake in Air India to about 40 per cent. SIA has a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, secured as part of a merger between the latter and Vistara – SIA’s joint venture with Tata Sons.

The counter ended a 12-day winning streak on Friday.

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Top Glove was also actively traded on Monday, with 14.7 million shares worth S$4 million changing hands. The counter closed 7 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$0.265.

On Friday, the glove-maker posted a net loss of RM130.6 million (S$37.8 million) for its third fiscal quarter ended May 31, reversing its earnings of RM15.3 million a year earlier.

The trio of local banks ended lower on Monday. DBS fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$31.11, OCBC lost 0.5 per cent or S$0.06 to close at S$12.59, and UOB ended 0.5 per cent or S$0.14 lower at S$27.82.