Singapore stocks fall at Friday’s open as export figures contract; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE shares declined in early trade on Friday (Feb 17) after the Republic’s non-oil domestic exports posted worse-than-expected performance and the US market reported losses amid interest rate concerns.

Key Singapore exports tumbled 25 per cent from a high year-ago base, deepening from December 2022’s 20.6 per cent decline on the year. This far outstripped the median 21.9 per cent decline forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent or 8.09 points to 3,303.14 as at 9.01 am. Losers outnumbered gainers 67 to 40 after 31.4 million securities worth S$49.2 million changed hands. 

ESR-Logos Reit was the most actively traded counter, with 5.8 million of its securities changing hands. The counter traded down 4.3 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.335 as at 9.01 am.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust was also briskly traded, with 2.7 million of its shares changing hands in early trade. The trust was down 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 at S$1.91 as at 9.01 am.

Another actively traded stock in terms of volume was Singtel , with 2.4 million shares transacted on Friday morning. The telecommunications company was down 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 at S$2.46.

Banking stocks fell at Friday’s open as well, with DBS declining 0.6 per cent or S$0.22 at S$34.58. Meanwhile, UOB fell 0.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$30.62, while OCBC slipped 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$12.95

Wall Street stocks retreated on Thursday on unexpectedly hot wholesale price inflation and hawkish comments from a US Federal Reserve official, reigniting jitters over the central bank’s future rate hike path.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.3 per cent to close at 33,696.85, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index fell 1.4 per cent to 4,090.41. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 1.8 per cent to 11,855.83.

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Meanwhile, European shares rose on Thursday as upbeat corporate earnings helped France’s blue-chip index touch a new record high, overshadowing worries about US interest rates staying elevated after further evidence of the country’s economic strength.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.2 per cent higher to close at 465.24.