STI sheds 0.54% amid Russia-Ukraine tension, China lockdowns

SINGAPORE shares retreated on Monday (Mar 14) as global economic outlook remain clouded by widespread sanctions on Russia and China's new Covid-19 lockdown.

The Singapore Straits Times Index (STI) *STI fell 0.54 per cent or 17.63 points to 3,232.03.

Said CIMB Private Banking's economist Song Seng Wun: "As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its third week, there is little hope that this new week will bring about any peaceful resolution to the conflict.

"Already, repercussions are being felt around the world on heightened geopolitical risk and as energy and other commodity prices soared to records high."

Meanwhile, China had announced a full lockdown of Shenzhen following a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases.

Said Oanda Asia-Pacific senior market analyst Jeffery Halley: "Fears of further supply chain disruptions if the port closes, or lockdowns spread, have combined to weigh heavily on Asian markets."

With the exception of Japan's Nikkei 225 and the Jakarta Composite Index which gained 0.58 per cent and 0.43 per cent respectively, most key benchmarks in the region ended lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 4.97 per cent; South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.59 per cent and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 0.05 per cent.

Across the Singapore market, losers outnumbered gainers 349 to 145, after 1.38 billion securities worth S$1.21 billion changed hands.

Of the 30 STI constituents, 25 ended the day in the red. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 was the worst-performing counter on the blue-chip index. Its shares fell 3.6 per cent or S$0.05 to S$1.36.

At the top of the table was Venture V03 , gaining 0.2 per cent or S$0.03 to close at S$16.66 on Monday.

The other 2 counters that ended the day in the black were City Developments C09 which was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$7.30, and Jardine Cycle & Carriage C07 which gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$22.88.

Mapletree Commercial Trust N2IU and Sembcorp Industries U96 ended the day unchanged at S$1.84 and S$2.66 respectively.

Thai Beverage Y92 was the most heavily traded on the STI with over 32 million shares changing hands. The counter shed S$0.005 or 0.8 per cent to S$0.665.