Singapore shares close lower amid mixed regional showing; STI down 0.8%
Sembcorp Industries leads the gainers on the blue-chip index
Singapore's stock market closed lower on Tuesday (Sep 1) as regional markets showed mixed results. The Straits Times Index (STI) dropped 0.8% or 44.99 points to close at 5,710.37. Sembcorp Industries was the top performer among blue-chip stocks, rising 2.4% or S$0.14 to S$6.06. DFI Retail Group was the worst performer, dropping 4.3% or US$0.16 to US$3.55.
All local banks saw a decline, with DBS losing 0.6% or S$0.49 to S$76.91, OCBC falling 0.6% or S$0.18 to S$31.34, and UOB down 0.3% or S$0.14 to S$41.42. In the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, Golden Agri-Resources was the biggest winner, increasing 4.8% or S$0.015 to S$0.33, while Food Empire was the largest loser, falling 4.3% or S$0.10 to S$2.21.
Overall, more stocks lost value than gained, with 324 out of 566 stocks falling and 238 gaining. The broader market saw 1.4 billion shares trading hands, with security values totaling S$2.1 billion. Other regional indices also varied, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 0.9%, Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.2%, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declining 1.5%.
South Korea's Kospi saw a slight gain of 0.2%. The surge in global government bonds, reaching a 3.72% high since mid-2008, was driven by higher yields in Japan, Australia, and the US. This followed US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish remarks at the Jackson Hole speech, which coincided with a spike in oil prices due to rising geopolitical tensions.
Analyst Nigel Green warned that the two-decade high in government bond yields is moving too quickly and could impact mortgage rates, corporate loans, and pension valuations.
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.
