Singapore stocks rise amid mixed regional showing; STI up 0.5%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended higher on Wednesday (Jul 8).

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.5 per cent or 27.33 points to finish at 5,369.57.

UOB led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 3.9 per cent or S$1.64 to S$43.33.

The other local banks also ended higher. DBS gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.46 to S$69.10, while OCBC rose 1.7 per cent or S$0.45 to S$26.79.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Jardine Matheson , which fell 4.1 per cent or US$2.63 to US$60.96.

James Ooi, market strategist at Tiger Brokers, expects the STI’s near-term direction to be shaped by second-quarter earnings releases from the three local banks in August.

“Although investors remain concerned about the limited upside from net interest margin recovery, the strong momentum in wealth management and growing net fee income could provide a meaningful offset, even if interest rates stay lower for longer,” he said.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, First Resources was the top gainer, rising 2.8 per cent or S$0.09 to S$3.27.

China Aviation Oil was the index’s biggest decliner, falling 7.4 per cent or S$0.14 to S$1.75.

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Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 332 to 274, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$2.3 billion changed hands.

Elsewhere in the region, key indices were mixed.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 3 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI advanced 0.04 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.1 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was down 5.4 per cent.

Ooi noted that major US indices closed lower overnight. He added that market participants were remaining highly sensitive to semiconductor-related news that could trigger a rotation away from artificial intelligence hardware names and towards AI midstream and downstream companies.

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