Singapore’s STI drops 2.6%; Asia markets extend declines on Trump tariff troubles
[SINGAPORE] Singapore equities began Friday (Apr 4) in negative territory, following the slump in all three major Wall Street indices and European shares on Thursday.
The Straits Times Index (STI) plummeted and was down 100.37 points or 2.6 per cent at 3,841.86 as at 2.01 pm.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 373 to 80 after 988.2 million securities worth S$1.9 billion changed hands.
Local banking stocks had been trading lower since early trade. As at 2.03 pm, DBS slipped 4 per cent or S$1.84 to S$43.68, UOB fell 3.6 per cent or S$1.33 to S$35.55, and OCBC traded 2.2 per cent or S$0.38 lower at S$16.71.
Some markets in the rest of Asia also piled on the losses from Thursday, as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs roiled global markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 2.8 per cent, while Australia’s ASX closed 2.4 per cent lower.
Within South-east Asia, Thailand’s SET Index was down 2.8 per cent, and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Stock Index fell 1.8 per cent as at 3.36 pm on Friday.
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On Wednesday, Trump slapped a blanket 10 per cent import duty on all countries and more extensive reciprocal tariffs on the “worst offenders”. Singapore was not spared his sweeping 10 per cent baseline tariff, despite being a close US ally.
Japan was slapped with an additional customised tariff rate of 24 per cent; South Korea was hit with a 25 per cent tariff rate. China faces an additional 34 per cent on top of levies imposed earlier this year.
The baseline tariff takes effect on Apr 5, and the reciprocal tariffs, on Apr 9.
US stocks plunged on Thursday as traders reacted to Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 4 per cent lower at 40,545.93, a loss of more than 1,600 points. The broad-based S&P 500 closed 4.8 per cent lower at 5,396.52 – its worst trading day since June 2020.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite tanked 6 per cent to 16,550.6 – its largest one-day decline since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
European shares also tumbled on Thursday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index down 2.6 per cent at 523.12 points, falling back to its lowest since January.
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