Singapore shares fall on Thursday; STI down 0.7%
Venture Corp leads the gainers on the blue-chip index
Singapore stocks closed down on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) falling 0.7% to 5,684.12 points. Venture Corp emerged as the top gainers among blue-chip stocks, climbing 1.7% to reach S$17.08. Meanwhile, Genting Singapore suffered the most significant losses, dropping 2.3% to S$0.63 due to an ex-dividend trade. The major local banks all ended the day in the red, with DBS down 0.8% to S$75.65, OCBC falling 1.7% to S$30.90, and UOB slipping 0.8% to S$40.64.
In terms of sector performance, PC Partner led gains within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, surging 4% to S$2.89, while UltraGreen.ai posted the steepest decline at 4.1% to US$0.705. Across the broader market, losing stocks outnumbered gainers by 246 to 229, after 1.1 billion securities valued at S$1.6 billion were traded. Regional indices across Asia were mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 0.3%, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipping 0.2%, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropping 0.4%. South Korea's Kospi, however, saw a 1.5% increase.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, highlighted that the markets are eagerly anticipating US Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech, which is slated for Friday. Warsh's address is expected to provide crucial insights into the Fed's stance on maintaining independence, bringing inflation back to 2%, and limiting the impact on the jobs market.
If Warsh successfully upholds the Fed's credibility, it could lead to further gains for the US dollar. Conversely, a perceived failure to safeguard the dollar's strength might result in further selling pressure, potentially benefiting precious metals and other hard commodities.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Companies & Markets's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
