Singapore stocks close lower amid silver rally; STI inches down 0.1%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended lower on Monday (Dec 29), tracking a mixed regional performance, while silver climbed above US$80 an ounce.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.1 per cent or 2.51 points to finish at 4,633.64. Meanwhile, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index gained 0.1 per cent or 1.64 points to 1,451.31.

Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 308 to 241, after 1.1 billion securities worth S$810.6 million changed hands.

Keppel DC Reit was the top blue-chip gainer, rising 0.9 per cent or S$0.02 to end at S$2.23.

Technology player Venture Corp the biggest decliner on the STI, falling 0.6 per cent or S$0.09 to close at S$15.10.

Local banks closed lower. DBS lost 0.05 per cent to finish at S$56.20, OCBC fell 0.5 per cent to finish at S$19.71, and UOB was down 0.2 per cent to finish at S$35.06.

Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.7 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.4 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi gained 2.2 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 0.2 per cent.

Against this backdrop, silver has surged 181 per cent year to date, far outpacing gold and breaking above the US$80 mark.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, cautioned that the rally is “not a one-off headline trade”, but a case of “positioning colliding with scarcity”.

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He added that silver is “screaming that something in the global balance sheet is under far more strain than most portfolios are positioned to admit” as “precious metals are starting to trade with a hyperinflationary feel”.