Singapore shares track Wall Street losses on Thursday; STI down 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares closed lower on Thursday (Dec 29), tracking losses on Wall Street.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.5 per cent or 17.73 points to 3,249.24. Losers outnumbered gainers 272 to 235, after 881.9 million securities worth S$727.2 million changed hands.

Wall Street stocks ended lower on Wednesday on lighter trading volumes during the holiday season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.1 per cent lower, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.2 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.4 per cent.

Regional stocks were also largely in the red. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.9 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index fell 1.9 per cent, and the Hang Seng Index fell 0.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index was up 0.8 per cent.

Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG, said: “The lack of a clear catalyst for the equity bulls seems to be at play, with downside momentum set in the aftermath of the December US Federal Reserve meeting guiding for a drift lower amid the quieter festive period.”

He noted that market participants were watching China’s reopening, which may result in virus surges in the near term. However, this would likely be “a positive step over the long run, in light of past global attempts in bringing virus cases under control”.

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Singapore shares fall at Thursday’s open; STI down 0.5%

The top gainer on the STI was Hongkong Land , which gained 0.9 per cent to end at US$4.59.

Meanwhile, the top decliner was Thai Beverage , which lost 1.5 per cent to close at S$0.68.

The trio of local banks ended lower on Thursday. DBS lost 0.8 per cent to stand at S$33.93, UOB fell 0.5 per cent to S$30.80, and OCBC shed 1.1 per cent to close at S$12.22.