Singapore stocks start week lower amid regional decline; STI down 0.6%

SINGAPORE stocks fell to begin the week, amid declines in most regional markets as China and Hong Kong equities plunged.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent or 18.08 points on Monday to close at 3,138.97. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong shares led losses, with tech and private education stocks plunging.

The Hang Seng Index fell 4.1 per cent on Monday, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended 2.3 per cent lower. The Kospi in South Korea was down 0.9 per cent, while the KLCI in Malaysia fell 0.7 per cent. Shares in Japan bucked the trend, with the Nikkei 225 rising 1 per cent, as traders returned from a long holiday.

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note: "The plunge in China equities dominated Asian markets after the government further tightened its crackdown on Tencent and completely torpedoed the multi-billion student tuition sector over the weekend."

He noted that Asean markets are also expected to underperform by association, and regional markets would also be further weighed down by the rise of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

On the local bourse, shares of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding led the decline on the STI on Monday, falling 2.1 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.38.

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Only five index counters managed gains on Monday, with Singapore Airlines emerging the top gainer for the day, with its shares rising 1.8 per cent or S$0.09 to S$5.

Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 285 to 229 on Monday, after 1.44 billion securities worth S$1.01 billion changed hands.

Shares of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) were the second-most actively traded by value during the day after DBS. SPH shares rose 0.5 per cent or S$0.01 to close at S$1.86, after shares worth S$45.2 million changed hands.