Singapore stocks snap 4-day losing streak; STI up 0.5%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.5 per cent or 17.37 points to close at 3,282.30 on Friday (Feb 24), snapping a four-day losing streak in a week marked by shaky investor sentiment on US rate hike fears.

In the broader Singapore market, advancers outnumbered decliners 293 to 250, with 1.37 billion securities worth S$1.17 billion traded.

The more positive performance on Friday saw the STI pare some losses to end the week down a total of 1.4 per cent.

According to SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes, the Federal Reserve is now unlikely to cut interest rates even if inflation were to decline.

“While all four steps of the rebalancing process needed to tame inflation are now underway – demand growth is below potential, the jobs-workers gap has shrunk, wage growth has fallen, and inflation has slowed – the bar has been raised as markets do not expect the Federal Open Market Committee to cut the funds rate until a growth risk emerges,” he said.

The top performer on Singapore’s blue-chip index was Keppel Corporation, which gained 2.4 per cent or S$0.13 to close at S$5.53.

At the bottom of the table was Sembcorp Industries, which lost 1.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$3.65.

The most actively traded counter among the STI constituents was Genting Singapore, which rose 1 per cent or S$0.01 to finish at S$1.02, after 58.9 million shares changed hands.

The trio of local lenders all ended higher on Friday. UOB rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.23 to close at S$29.85, DBS added 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$34.40, while OCBC climbed 0.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$12.67.

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Trading was mixed across key Asian markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3 per cent, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.7 per cent, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 0.1 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index and the Shanghai Composite Index each lost 0.6 per cent.