STI falls for 4th straight session, following concerns over recovery of US economy

SINGAPORE stocks slid for the fourth day in a row, tracking the fall in world equities as US Federal Reserve officials expressed caution over the country's economic outlook.

The benchmark Straits Times Index ended Thursday down 33.12 points or 1.29 per cent to close at 2,527.92.

In minutes from a July meeting released on Wednesday, the US Federal Open Market Committee members agreed that the "ongoing public health crisis would weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term and was posing considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term".

The best performer for the day among the STI constituents was ground handler and caterer Sats, which closed up S$0.03 or 1.04 per cent at S$2.91.

Shares of Wilmar International plunged S$0.50 or 10.3 per cent to close at S$4.36, after one of its largest shareholders, Archer Daniels Midland, announced plans to sell off shares and bonds worth US$800 million.

Keppel Corporation, Jardine Matheson Holdings (JMH) and Hongkong Land also found themselves at the bottom of the STI's performance table.

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Shares of Keppel slid 2.95 per cent to close at S$4.61, while JMH closed down 2.63 per cent at US$39.65. Property developer Hongkong Land declined 2.6 per cent to close at US$3.75.

On Aug 18, Moody's Investors Service said it had completed a periodic review of the ratings of Hongkong Land, and said that the company's A2 ratings are constrained by its "geographic concentration in Hong Kong and the relatively high business risk for its residential development business".

Decliners outnumbered advancers 298 to 161 for the day, with 1.71 billion securities worth S$2.29 billion changing hands.

A similar trend played out across Asian markets. The Hang Seng Index fell 1.54 per cent to close at 24,791.39, while the Nikkei 225 Index closed down 1 per cent at 22,880.62.

The benchmark Kospi saw an even sharper decline, tumbling 3.66 per cent to close at 2,274.22, as fears of rising domestic coronavirus infections persist.