Singapore stocks retreat amid mixed Asia trading; STI down 0.4%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended lower on Friday (May 8) amid a mixed showing around the region.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.4 per cent or 20.06 points to finish at 4,921.90.

Jardine Matheson led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 1.6 per cent or US$1.10 to US$71.28.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Hongkong Land , which fell 5.2 per cent or US$0.45 to US$8.25.

The three local banks ended mixed.

OCBC rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.04 at S$21.92; the lender on Friday reported a 5 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended Mar 31 to S$1.97 billion, from S$1.88 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, DBS finished 0.3 per cent or S$0.18 lower at S$58.68, and UOB fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.14 to S$36.56.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, BRC Asia was the top gainer, rising 5.6 per cent or S$0.25 to S$4.70.

Yangzijiang Financial was the index’s biggest decliner, falling 7.4 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.25.

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Across the broader market, gainers trailed losers 248 to 337, after 1.8 billion securities worth S$2.4 billion changed hands.

Key regional indices were mixed.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.9 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.6 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.1 per cent.

“Investors are increasingly trapped between two competing narratives: resilient technology optimism on one side, and tightening financial conditions driven by energy and geopolitical risk on the other,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

“As long as the Strait of Hormuz remains unstable, markets are likely to remain highly headline sensitive with volatility capable of returning very quickly across all major asset classes,” he added.