Singapore stocks end week in red; STI down 0.9% on Friday

SINGAPORE shares fell for the third consecutive day on Friday (Jun 10) to end the week lower, tracking declines in most regional markets.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.9 per cent or 27.89 points to close at 3,181.73 on Friday. For the week, the market barometer was down 1.6 per cent.

Shares of Jardine Matheson led the decliners on the STI on Friday, falling 2.8 per cent to close at US$57.23.

Just 2 of the 30 index constituents ended the day in positive territory. Jardine Cycle & Carriage rose 0.6 per cent, while Hongkong Land was the top gainer, climbing 1.6 per cent to US$5.09.

Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 288 to 187, after 1 billion securities worth S$947.2 million were traded.

Mainboard-listed Mun Siong Engineering was among top actives by volume, and received an exchange query on trading activity. The shares leapt 25 per cent to close at S$0.065 after 50.7 million shares worth S$3.1 million changed hands, more than the monthly average of 14.4 million shares in the past 3 months.

Elsewhere, key indices in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia fell between 0.3 and 1.5 per cent on Friday, as investors awaited US inflation data.

China stocks bucked the trend to end the day higher, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 1.4 per cent, after Chinese inflation data showed some easing in May.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that the benign inflation print could encourage the People’s Bank of China to continue policy easing, offsetting news that Chinese authorities plan to lock down some districts in Shanghai for Covid-19 testing over the weekend.

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“The tail risk here is that more cases are found, and we walk into a broader lockdown on Monday,” he said.