Singapore stocks decline on Wednesday; STI down 0.1%
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Singapore stocks declined on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) dropping 0.1% to 5,694.24. UOL Group led blue-chip gainers (+2.7%), while Thai Beverage was the worst performer (-2.1%). Local banks showed mixed results. Broader market activity saw losers outnumbering gainers 347 to 216. Regionally, indices were mixed: Hang Seng rose slightly, while Nikkei, Kospi, and FTSE Bursa Malaysia fell. Mizuho's Vishnu Varathan cited AI-credit jitters, geopolitical risks, and high yields as enduring threats to risk sentiment.
[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended lower on Wednesday (Aug 19).
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.1 per cent or 7.16 points to finish at 5,694.24.
UOL Group led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 2.7 per cent or S$0.25 to S$9.44.
The worst performer among STI constituents was Thai Beverage , which fell 2.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.46.
The three local banks ended mixed. DBS rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.28 to S$76, while OCBC finished 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$30.94 and UOB closed the session 0.8 per cent or S$0.32 lower at S$40.56.
Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, First Resources was the top gainer, rising 5.4 per cent or S$0.22 to S$4.33, while UltraGreen.ai was the biggest decliner, falling 3.4 per cent or US$0.04 to US$1.15.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 347 to 216, after 1.2 billion securities worth S$2 billion changed hands.
Addvalue Tech was the most actively traded stock, with 106.1 million shares changing hands.
DBS was the most actively traded stock in terms of value, with a volume of 3.2 million shares worth S$245.8 million.
Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.1 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.2 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi was down 5.8 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.1 per cent.
On Wednesday, Vishnu Varathan, head of macro strategy, Asia-Pacific, at Mizuho Securities (Singapore), said: “While chipmakers led the broader sell-off in global equities, a wider conspiracy of risks may be the bigger worry, posing a more enduring threat to risk sentiments.
“Artificial intelligence-credit jitters (cast) a glare on stretched valuations, and strains of capital market issuances conspire with elevated geopolitical (risks or shocks) and surging long-end yields, all of which stifle propensity for quick rebound in risks sentiments.”
This article has been written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a reporter