Singapore stocks fall on Thursday; STI down 0.4%

Singapore stocks faced a decline on Thursday (Aug 20), with the Straits Times Index (STI) falling 0.4 percent to 5,671.91 points. CapitaLand Investment was among the gainers, surging 1.5 percent to reach S$2.67. Among the STI constituents, Sats experienced the steepest drop, plummeting 13.6 percent to S$4.12. The major local banks also underperformed, with DBS, OCBC, and UOB all ending the day lower.

The iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index saw Top Glove emerge as the top performer, increasing 2.4 percent to S$0.21, while UltraGreen.ai suffered the biggest loss, sliding 35.2 percent to US$0.745 after a competitor secured regulatory approval for its indocyanine green dye. Across the broader market, 271 stocks gained while 284 declined, with a total turnover of 1.4 billion shares valued at S$2 billion.

CapAllianz was the most actively traded stock, while DBS led in terms of value, with 3.3 million shares traded worth S$253.3 million. OCBC Group Research analysts described the past 12 hours of trading as "choppy," particularly in the US asset markets, attributing the volatility to the release of Federal Open Market Committee minutes, ongoing tariff discussions, and a US Treasury announcement on liquidity support.