Singapore shares end Tuesday flat as investors move with caution

LOCAL shares ended Tuesday (Jul 18) largely unchanged, as traders approached capital markets with caution, mainly surrounding the usual suspects – inflation, interest rates and the upcoming corporate earnings season. 

The benchmark Straits Times Index ended the trading day with a loss of just 0.17 point to close at 3,254.26. Daily turnover came in at 1.1 billion securities worth a collective S$812.9 million. Advancers narrowly beat out decliners 285 to 273.

Qontigo’s head of applied research for the Asia-Pacific, Olivier d’Assier, noted that market rallies globally, with the exception of Japan, appear to be “out of sync with a weakening sentiment and may not be sustainable”.

“There are a lot of risk-averse investors waiting on the sidelines for a clear sign that it is safe to jump back into equities,” he said. 

“For now, without further clarity on the above, the base-case scenario for the second half of 2023 is a mirror of the first half’s performance, simply because markets hate giving even the appearance that they are being blatantly anti-symmetric.”

Thinly-traded special-purpose acquisition company Novo Tellus was the top gainer on the local bourse, rising 3.7 per cent or S$0.17 to close at S$4.71.

iFast Corp , which is set to announce its H1 and Q2 financial results next Tuesday after the market close, also made significant gains. The counter rose 1.7 per cent or S$0.08 to S$4.83. 

Venture Corporation was among the top decliners for the day, shedding 0.9 per cent or S$0.13 to S$14.91.

Beng Kuang Marine was one of the most heavily traded counters by volume on Tuesday, with about 22.4 million shares traded. The watch-listed counter rose 15.8 per cent or S$0.012 to close at S$0.088.

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Other heavily traded stocks for the day included Seatrium , Marco Polo Marine and Parkson Retail .