Singapore stocks fall following Wall Street dip, new virus variants

SINGAPORE shares retreated on Wednesday as investors take some risk off the market following Wall Street's dip amid inflation fears.

The city-state is also facing new virus variants with people being urged to stay home as much as possible.

The Straits Times Index ( *STI ) fell 1.22 per cent or 38.42 points to 3,104.21. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 256 to 125, after 1.41 billion securities worth S$1.25 billion changed hands.

UBS analyst Lee Wen Ching said in a note that the renewed mobility restrictions could spur sector rotations in the equity market.

"Defensive sectors such as industrial real estate investment trusts (Reits) and telecommunication infrastructure providers may once again come into the spotlight for their earnings and dividend resilience," she said.

Meanwhile, reopening proxies such as the aviation, hospitality, tourism and consumer discretionary sectors may face renewed pressure, she added.

Reopening plays including the Singapore Airlines (C6L), ComfortDelGro (C52) and Genting Singapore ( G13 ), which fared well on Tuesday were among the worst-performing on the blue-chip index

SIA was at the bottom of the table, losing 3.3 per cent or S$0.16 to S$4.70. ComfortDelGro dipped 3 per cent or S$0.05 to end at S$1.61 while Genting Singapore fell 2.5 per cent or two Singapore cents to 78.5 cents.

Only two counters on the STI ended the day in the black. Keppel DC Reit (AJBU) rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.68 while Dairy Farm International (D01) edged up 0.5 per cent or US$0.02 to US$4.38. Mapletree Industrial Trust (ME8U), Singtel (Z74) and Thai Beverage ( Y92 ) ended Wednesday flat.

The most active counter among STI constituents was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding ( BS6 ), which ended the day at S$1.43, down 2.7 per cent or S$0.04 after some 37.5 million shares changed hands.

Elsewhere in Asia, equities pulled back after a relatively strong start to the week as inflation concerns come into focus. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.28 per cent; the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 1.24 per cent while the Jakarta Composite Index dipped 1.27 per cent. Hong Kong and Seoul were closed.