Singapore stocks flat amid regional rally; STI down 0.4% 

THE Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 11.52 points to 3,270.51 on Friday (Apr 28) despite a rally among major Asian indices.

Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 308 to 208 after 1.8 billion securities worth S$1.1 billion changed hands.

Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.4 per cent.

Regional sentiment may have been lifted by improving investor sentiment in the US.

In a note released on Apr 28, Saxo’s Asia-Pacific strategy team noted that the broad-based S&P 500 index had its best session overnight since January on strong tech earnings, with Meta’s shares surging nearly 14 per cent.

“Adding to the positive sentiments was a rally in regional bank shares and better-than-expected earnings from European banks,” the analysts said, noting that both Deutsche Bank and Barclays Bank exceeded earnings expectations.

However, the analysts noted that advanced US gross domestic product estimates for the first quarter of 2023 missed expectations, and reflected a “stark slowdown” in growth as compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. This was also despite a 3.7 per cent increase in personal consumption.

“Business activity seems to be getting hurt by high interest rates, with declines seen in private inventory investment and residential fixed investment,” the analysts said.

On the STI, the top gainer was CapitaLand Ascendas Reit , which gained 1.8 per cent or S$0.05 to close at S$2.86.

SEE ALSO

MPACT’s Greater China lag takes shine away from strong Singapore showing

At the bottom of the table was CapitaLand Investment , which shed 4.1 per cent or S$0.16 to close at S$3.72. Friday was the ex-date for the company’s dividend, which offered shareholders S$0.12 and 0.057 CapitaLand Ascott Trust units per share.