Singapore shares track Wall Street losses; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares finished trading lower on Thursday (Jan 19), after Wall Street clocked overnight losses following softer economic readings that sparked recession worries.

The Straits Times Index (STI) decreased by 13.37 points or 0.4 per cent to 3,276.18 points. The banking trio, which makes up over 40 per cent of the blue-chip barometer in terms of industry weightage, all registered declines.

DBS : D05 0% was among the top STI losers, dropping 1.4 per cent to close at S$34.53. OCBC : O39 0% and UOB : U11 0% shares slipped by 0.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively to S$12.59 and S$29.21.

Almost half of the STI constituents closed lower, while about a third closed higher and the rest remained flat.

Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 274 to 239 on a turnover of 916.6 million securities worth S$868.4 million.

Prime US Reit : OXMU 0% topped the chart for best-performing real estate investment trusts (Reits), with a 5.8 per cent jump in its unit price to US$0.455. This came after brokerage UOB Kay Hian initiated coverage on the Reit with a “buy” call and a target price of US$0.78. The brokerage wrote that Prime US Reit “will benefit from a flight to quality”.

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The United States reported sharper contractions in producer price index, retail sales and industrial production data on Wednesday, sending Wall Street into the red on heightened concerns about the economy.

Meanwhile, the yields on the US two-year Treasury bill and the 10-year bond both fell by over 10 basis points, but the lower risk-free rate still failed to boost the stock markets.