Singapore shares buck Asian peers; STI closes 0.3% lower

SINGAPORE stocks started the week in the red, with the Straits Times Index (STI) closing 0.3 per cent or 10.15 points lower at 3,283.60 points on Monday (Jan 16). The STI bucked the trend among its Asian peers, which were buoyed by optimism surrounding China’s reopening.

Across the broader Singapore market, decliners beat gainers 295 to 248, on a turnover of 851.4 million securities with a total value of S$991.4 million.

ComfortDelGro shares sank to a 52-week low at S$1.14, down S$0.03 or 2.6 per cent. The counter exited the STI last September, and has been on a downtrend, declining drastically since last week. It was among the stocks that topped net institutional outflow for the five sessions from Jan 6 to Jan 12.

RHB lowered the transport heavyweight’s target price from S$1.80 to S$1.65, as a result of reduced earnings expectations for taxi and public transport operations.

iFast shares tanked 8.5 per cent or S$0.50 to S$5.36, despite the company maintaining its financial guidance for FY2023 to FY2025 over the weekend. The Singapore fintech platform operator is a sub-contractor helping to build the Hong Kong ePension platform, the rollout of which has fallen behind schedule.

The banking trio ended the day mixed. UOB dropped 2.9 per cent to S$29.66, making it the top STI decliner. DBS and OCBC rose 0.1 per cent and 0.08 per cent respectively to S$34.87 and S$12.65, after mixed bank earnings on Wall Street were reported last Friday.