STI ends in the red along with region

THE Straits Times Index (STI) extended declines from last week and fell 10.61 points or 0.33 per cent to 3,173.93 on Monday, in line with the region.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 344 to 152, with 2.11 billion securities worth S$1.48 billion changing hands.

Around Asia, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.77 per cent; the Hang Seng Index declined 0.86 per cent; the Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.09 per cent, while Malaysia's KLCI retreated 0.24 per cent.

The biggest loser on the STI was Sembcorp Industries, despite UOB Kay Hian raising the stock's target price to S$2.27 from S$2, with a maintained "buy" rating. The brokerage believes that it will benefit from efforts to ramp up its renewable energy portfolio, with recent solar project wins also making it the potential solar-energy leader in Singapore.

Its shares fell S$0.05 or 2.6 per cent to S$1.87.

The best performer was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which added S$0.01 or 0.78 per cent to S$1.30, following news reports last week that it will resume operations for Jiangsu Yangzi Changbo Shipbuilding (which halted operations in 2012) by mid-2021, and that China's maritime shipping industry is likely to keep cashing in on heightened freight rates due to pandemic-induced supply shortages.

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Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, said Asian equity markets are off to a "wobbling start" to the week, reflecting a combination of concerns including China imposing an antitrust fine on Alibaba and a pick-up in the new daily Covid-19 case count in India and Thailand.

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific, at Oanda, said the US$2.8 billion antitrust fine imposed on Alibaba by the Chinese authorities had set the tone for Asian stocks since Monday morning, as investors worried that Alibaba would not be the last China tech giant in the firing line.