Keppel and Sembcorp claw back gains on Wednesday; STI up 0.1% despite US stocks’ slide

SINGAPORE stocks ended higher on Wednesday (Jun 21), despite US stocks sliding as their market rally cooled. 

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.1 per cent or 3.43 points to 3,223.66. Losers outnumbered gainers 310 to 237, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$1.1 billion changed hands.

Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, said investors are turning cautious ahead of “another hefty dose of Fedspeak amid a relatively light data docket”. 

All eyes will be on Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s semi-annual congressional testimony on Wednesday, a two-day affair at which he delivers the Fed’s report on monetary policy and economy. 

“With little scheduled news to steer sentiment, Tuesday’s price action… suggests that investors are continuing to contemplate the possibility of a soft landing, the sustainability of the recent AI-fuelled rally, and the Fed’s less-aggressive path post-July,” said Innes.

In Singapore, Sembcorp Industries was the STI’s top gainer, up 4.5 per cent or S$0.23 to S$5.38. 

STI constituent Keppel Corporation also made strides, ending the day up 1.5 per cent or S$0.10 to S$6.70.  

The conglomerate announced on Tuesday after markets closed that it had obtained a contract to design, build, own and operate a new large-scale district cooling system plant in the Jurong Lake District for 30 years. It expects the project to generate S$950 million in payments.  

These gains come a day after both companies led the blue-chip barometer’s decline. On Tuesday’s market close, Sembcorp had fallen 9.2 per cent to S$5.15, and Keppel was down 5.2 per cent to S$6.60. 

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The steep drops had occurred after the Energy Market Authority on Monday said that it will introduce a temporary price cap on wholesale electricity prices.

Sembcorp and Keppel are in the business of providing power on Singapore’s open electricity market through their respective subsidiaries, Sembcorp Power and Keppel Electric.

Meanwhile, the STI’s biggest decliner was Venture Corporation, which tumbled 3.1 per cent or S$0.48 to S$15.20. 

Singapore’s three local banks were mixed at market close. DBS was up 0.6 per cent or S$0.20 to S$31.35; UOB finished the day at S$27.99, up 0.3 per cent or S$0.09. However, OCBC dipped 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$12.51. 

Elsewhere, key Asian indices ended varied. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.6 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index rose 0.4 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index dipped 2 per cent and Kospi Composite Index slid 0.9 per cent.