Singapore stocks slide as growth, inflation concerns mount; STI falls 1%

SINGAPORE shares were hammered on Thursday (Jun 30) as sentiment worsened across the region on growth fears as central banks tighten monetary policies to tamp down rising cost pressures.

The Straits Times Index (STI) tumbled 32.66 points or 1.04 per cent to 3,102.21, after an uninspiring overnight performance on Wall Street which largely traded within a tight range and closed flat. This comes ahead of the release of key US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index later on Thursday.

Fears over rising prices were also heightened following the latest inflation figures out of Spain and Germany.

Equity markets across most of Asia-Pacific wrapped up the final day of the second quarter on a downbeat note. Japan fell 1.5 per cent on weak industrial production data. Taiwan was the biggest loser, losing 2.7 per cent, while main indices in Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea also fell. Malaysia bucked the trend, closing marginally higher.

Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite closed 1.1 per cent higher. Latest data showed activity in China’s manufacturing and services sectors in June expanded for the first time in 4 months, indicating that a consumer-led recovery was gaining traction in the world’s second-largest economy.

On the home front, some 1.13 billion securities worth S$1.1 billion were traded. Losers outpaced gainers with 290 counters down and 204 up. The day’s losses were led by the banking trio DBS, UOB and OCBC, as well as Singtel and Wilmar International.

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The Place Holdings : E27 0% said on Wednesday evening that it has tied up with Stellar Lifestyle - a business arm of SMRT Corp - to tap opportunities in the digital media space and that it plans to invest S$200 million in a “L.I.F.E” omni-channel ecosystem. Shares of the company finished S$0.003 or 4 per cent higher at S$0.078 from its last traded price on Friday following a trading halt pending this announcement.

Yanlord Land Group : Z25 0% said on Wednesday that it garnered a 100 per cent sell-out at its third batch of apartment launch at Yanlord Arcadia in Shanghai. Total property contracted pre-sales derived from this third launch amounted to some 6.1 billion yuan (S$1.28 billion). Shares of the real estate developer slipped S$0.02 or 1.9 per cent to S$1.06 on Thursday.