Singapore shares rise ahead of key Fed conference; STI up 0.3%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended higher on Friday (Aug 28), as investors awaited US Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, an annual gathering for central bankers.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.3 per cent or 15.81 points to finish at 5,699.93.

Wilmar International led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 1.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$3.81.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust , which fell 1.6 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.93.

The three local banks ended higher. DBS gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.50 to S$76.15, OCBC rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.17 to S$31.07, and UOB was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.14 at S$40.78.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, Hong Leong Asia was the top gainer, rising 5.1 per cent or S$0.15 to S$3.12, while Frencken Group was the biggest loser, falling 7.5 per cent or S$0.19 to S$2.35.

This comes after Frencken proposed a share placement exercise on Thursday, where the company plans to raise S$100 million through 44.1 million shares at a 10 per cent discount.

Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 290 to 253, after 1.2 billion securities worth S$1.6 billion changed hands.

Addvalue Tech was the most actively traded stock, with 228.7 million shares changing hands. DBS was the most actively traded stock in terms of value, with 2.5 million shares worth S$191.2 million traded.

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Frencken shares end 7.5% lower after S$100 million placement

Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.1 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 per cent. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.8 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.9 per cent.

The mixed performance comes ahead of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, where US Fed chairman Kevin Warsh is expected to deliver his first keynote address.

“Eyes are on what Warsh says tonight – whether he would be a little more concrete on how to deliver price stability or would he just focus on the five task forces and his priorities,” said Saktiandi Supaat, Maybank’s head of foreign exchange.

He added that Warsh may see the need to sound more hawkish in his keynote speech.

“Therein lies the possibility of a mild rebound in the US dollar,” he added.

“Markets are not going to go all in on this and, as such, the rebound could at most be mild.”

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