Singapore shares bounce back after 6-day losing streak; STI up 1%

Stocks on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) rebounded on Monday (Aug 4), snapping a six-day losing streak, even as Asian indices closed mixed.

The local market had fallen for six straight sessions from Jul 25 to Aug 1, marking its longest losing streak since Apr 9.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 1 per cent or 43.4 points to 4197.23. Across the broader market, advancers beat decliners 361 to 206, after 1.5 billion securities worth S$1.5 billion changed hands.

“The broad bid tone was linked to a more accommodative Federal Reserve outlook, which had been increasingly discounted over the prior Asia week,” Geoff Howie, market strategist at SGX, told The Business Times.

He added that the iEdge S-Reit Index posted its strongest daily gain since April as softer US employment data and downward revisions to prior months flipped rate expectations. This pushed the odds of a Federal Reserve cut on Sep 17 to 80 per cent from under 40 per cent before the release.

Market sentiment, however, is turning sour. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, noted that the three-month average for US job gains dropped to 35,000, which is below the 50,000 level often viewed as a recession signal.

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She added that higher rate cut expectations due to recession fears are good news for US President Donald Trump, but a weak economy was not part of his promise.

“Cutting rates at the wrong moment won’t magically rescue markets, and scapegoating the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the outcome of his administration’s chaotic policies risks damaging the credibility of US economic data.” she said.

Trump fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday, accusing her of manipulating the weaker-than-expected employment growth numbers.

Regional bourses ended mixed on Monday. South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index each rose 0.9 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.3 per cent and Malaysia’s KLCI slipped 0.4 per cent.

Back home, on the STI, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust was the top gainer. It rose 3.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$1.32.

Thai Beverage came in at the bottom of the table, shedding 1.1 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.46.

The trio of local banks closed in the black. DBS gained 0.6 per cent or S$0.29 to S$47.89, OCBC rose 0.7 per cent or S$0.11 to S$16.9, and UOB was up 0.8 per cent or S$0.30 to S$36.37.