Singapore stocks close higher; STI up 0.2%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended higher on Wednesday (Jun 24). 

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.2 per cent or 10.25 points to finish at 5,215.99.

Hongkong Land led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 2.5 per cent or US$0.18 to US$7.29.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Seatrium , which fell 1.5 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.98.

The three local banks ended mixed. UOB rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$39.90, while DBS finished 0.1 per cent or S$0.07 lower at S$66.22 and OCBC was down 0.5 per cent or S$0.12 at S$24.95.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, SIA Engineering was the top gainer, rising 2.1 per cent or S$0.07 to S$3.42. Frencken Group was the biggest decliner, falling 3.2 per cent or S$0.10 to end the session at S$2.99.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 306 to 251, after 1.2 billion securities worth S$1.9 billion changed hands.

Key regional indices were mixed on Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.3 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi was up 3.3 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI advanced 0.1 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent.

Mathieu Racheter, head of equity strategy research at Julius Baer, said that artificial intelligence-related sectors have become “the epicentre of a broader risk reduction”, after driving a “significant share” of global equity returns in the first half of 2026.

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But the recent sell-off in technology and semiconductor stocks is not evidence that the AI investment cycle is ending, he said.

Julius Baer equity strategy researcher Nenad Dinic attributed the pullback mainly to retail investors “using high leverage and forced liquidations” on exchange-traded funds, rather than a “fundamental deterioration” in the AI hardware demand cycle.

What the latest market action does provide, Racheter added, is “an important reminder about concentration risk”.

“A more diversified global equity exposure should help investors participate in the next phase of the bull market, while reducing dependence on a small number of stocks and sectors,” he said.

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