Singapore shares fall on US recession fears; STI drops 1.9%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore shares recovered slightly at market close on Tuesday (Mar 11), after falling by as much as 2 per cent in the afternoon amid fears of a recession in the United States.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 1.9 per cent or 73.24 points to end at 3,825.83.

Regional markets were also in a sea of red. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.6 per cent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.9 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.3 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.01 per cent.

In Singapore, local banks were among the biggest decliners on the STI. DBS saw the greatest drop, falling 3.5 per cent or S$1.62 to end at S$44.23.

UOB declined 3.4 per cent or S$1.32 to S$37.35, and OCBC dropped 2.1 per cent or S$0.36 to end at S$16.69.

The top gainer was Jardine Matheson , climbing 3.4 per cent or US$1.35 to US$41.05.

Resort and casino operator Genting Singapore was the most actively traded counter by volume for a second day running, with 36.4 million shares worth S$26.1 million traded. The counter ended flat at S$0.72.

Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 341 to 220, after 1.8 billion securities worth S$2.3 billion were traded.

Geoff Howie, a market strategist at the Singapore Exchange, said that global macroeconomic forces “took hold” of the local market on Tuesday.

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However, stocks with significant China exposure were able to maintain a more defensive line as the East Asian giant is increasing its fiscal deficit and reinforcing its role in global value chains, said Howie.

With the market expected to be volatile amid fluidity in global policy agendas, he added that investors can expect more trading activity in Asia’s mid-to-small-cap segment, rather than mega-cap stocks, as their valuations are less stretched.