Singapore stocks slump on Friday on new Covid-19 variant fears; STI falls 1.7%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) slumped 1.7 per cent or 55.25 points to close at 3,166.27 points as fresh coronavirus fears infected markets across Asia.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 406 to 139 in the wider Singapore market, with nearly 2 billion shares worth S$1.8 billion changing hands.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) market strategist Geoff Howie noted that the drop in the STI was the highest percentage decline seen in a day since the 2.2 per cent decline on May 14.

"This has taken the STI back to mid-October levels and trimmed the 2021 year-to-date total return to 15 per cent," Howie said.

All 30 constituent stocks in Singapore's benchmark index registered losses on Friday.

The worst performers were Genting Singapore G13 and Singapore Airlines (SIA) C6L, : C6L 0% which could suffer the brunt of further lockdowns.

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Genting fell 4.2 per cent or S$0.035 to S$0.795, while SIA dropped 3.8 per cent or S$0.20 to S$5.05. GENS was also the most heavily traded counter among the index constituents, with 56.4 million shares traded.

The trio of local lenders also saw sharp declines. DBS D05 fell 1.7 per cent or S$0.54 to S$31.57, UOB U11 lost 1.6 per cent or S$0.45 to S$27.11, and OCBC O39 dr : O39 0%opped 1.6 per cent or S$0.19 to S$11.55.

"The emergence of a heavily mutated new strain of Covid-19 in South Africa, and 2 cases of this variant being detected in Hong Kong today, has sent Asian investors scurrying for the exit door," said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.

Fears over the new B11529 strain, which experts say could be more infectious and vaccine-resistant than the Delta variant, saw Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunge 2.7 per cent or 659.64 points to 24,080.52.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended down 2.5 per cent or 747.66 points to 28,751.62; South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.5 per cent or 43.83 points to 2,936.44; and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 0.4 per cent or 5.38 points to close at 1,512.22.