Singapore shares fall on Tuesday; STI down 1.2%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended lower on Tuesday (Aug 18).

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 1.2 per cent or 67.06 points to finish at 5,701.40.

Sembcorp Industries led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 1.8 per cent or S$0.11 to S$6.08.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Hongkong Land , which fell 2.9 per cent or US$0.25 to US$8.33.

The local banks all ended lower. DBS lost 1.5 per cent or S$1.16 to end at S$75.72, OCBC fell 1.9 per cent or S$0.60 to S$30.95, and UOB was down 0.6 per cent or S$0.25 at S$40.88.

In the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, China Aviation Oil was the top gainer, rising 3.8 per cent or S$0.06 to S$1.62; CSE Global was the biggest loser, falling 5.9 per cent or S$0.08 to S$1.27.

Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 341 to 250, after 1.5 billion securities worth S$2 billion changed hands.

Addvalue Tech was the most actively traded stock with 90.3 million shares changing hands. DBS was the most actively traded stock in terms of value, with 3.2 million shares worth S$244.6 million traded.

Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.1 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI advanced 0.4 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.6 per cent.

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“H1 2026 was dominated by technology, especially artificial intelligence-related semiconductor stocks,” said Mathieu Racheter, head of equity strategy research at Julius Baer.

“Since July, however, market leadership has broadened beyond technology towards sectors such as financials and healthcare.

“We expect this trend to continue. Importantly, this is not a negative call on AI; semiconductor fundamentals remain strong and hyperscalers continue to raise their capex guidance.”

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