Singapore stocks track regional declines on Friday; STI down 1%
Sembcorp Industries is biggest blue-chip loser, falling 3.6% or S$0.23 to S$6.08
[SINGAPORE] Local stocks ended lower on Friday (Nov 21), tracking declines in the region.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) was down 1 per cent or 42.73 points at 4,469.14, although the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index rose 0.6 per cent or 8.56 points to 1,455.49.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 477 to 161, after 1.5 billion securities worth S$1.8 billion changed hands.
Key indices in the region ended lower. The Nikkei 225 fell 2.4 per cent, the Kospi lost 3.8 per cent, the Hang Seng Index was down 2.4 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ended 0.2 per cent lower.
Asia woke to another blood-red tech board as the artificial intelligence (AI) valuation bubble wheezed under the weight of its own hype, said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management.
He added that the “true centre of gravity” for the sell-off was in the Japanese sovereign bond market, which is showing signs of destabilisation given its high debt load.
“High-multiple AI names aren’t collapsing because of revised cash flow models; they’re collapsing because liquidity premia are shifting,” Innes said.
“Asia’s tech rout is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath it lies the destabilisation of the world’s quietest and most consequential bond market.”
On the STI, Sembcorp Industries was the biggest loser, falling 3.6 per cent or S$0.23 to S$6.08. Hongkong Land was the top gainer, rising 0.5 per cent or US$0.03 to US$6.33.
The local banking trio ended lower. DBS fell 0.3 per cent to S$53.67, OCBC was down 1 per cent at S$18.07, while UOB dropped 0.1 per cent to S$33.85.
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