Singapore shares fall as local banks end mixed; STI down 0.3%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended lower on Monday (Aug 3).

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.3 per cent or 16.22 points to finish at 5,612.28.

Seatrium led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 3.7 per cent or S$0.08 to S$2.23.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Hongkong Land , which fell 3.1 per cent or US$0.25 to US$7.87.

The three local banks ended mixed. DBS rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.43 to S$74.45, while OCBC finished 0.9 per cent or S$0.26 lower at S$28.87, and UOB ended down 0.8 per cent or S$0.36 at S$43.04.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, PC Partner was the top gainer, rising 7.5 per cent or S$0.20 to S$2.87.

Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust was the index’s biggest decliner, falling 2.5 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.575.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 318 to 257, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$2.1 billion changed hands.

International Cement was the most actively traded stock on the Singapore bourse, with 108.7 million shares changing hands.

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DBS was the most actively traded stock in terms of value, with a volume of 3.3 million shares worth S$246.6 million.

Key regional indices were mixed.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI inched up 0.1 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was down 5.1 per cent.

Aletheia Capital analyst Steven Schlegel noted that Monday marked the “true beginning” of chair Kevin Warsh’s US Federal Reserve, with the first meeting on Jul 29 “a political meet-and-greet”.

“Starting last week, the Fed was no longer permitted to have public discussion about Fed policy and thus the market has been a bit left in the dark,” he added, expecting this week’s tone to remain hawkish.

“We will be discussing the bearish silver story, and how the gold/silver ratio will play out.”

This article has been written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a reporter