Singapore stocks fall amid mixed regional showing; STI drops 0.4%

Nikkei 225 ends 0.2% lower, while Kospi is up 0.4%; Bursa loses 0.3% and Hang Seng closes 0.2% higher

SINGAPORE stocks closed lower on Wednesday (Nov 20), as investors awaited chipmaker Nvidia’s earnings report and grappled with concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions after Ukraine fired its first US missile to Russia.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 0.4 per cent or 14.33 points lower at 3,743.64. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 269 to 235, with around 1.3 billion securities worth S$1.2 billion changing hands.

In the region, key indices were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.2 per cent lower, while South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index climbed 0.4 per cent. The Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 0.3 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.2 per cent higher.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, noted that “geopolitical worries gradually left their place to optimism in the US after Walmart rallied to a fresh record on higher-than-expected sales and strong outlook for the holiday season, and (in the) hope that Nvidia would do the same today, after bell”.

Highlighting a positive outlook for Nvidia’s performance, she said that strong AI demand, particularly the exponential demand for Nvidia’s next generation Blackwell chips “hints that the results will probably meet and hopefully beat these expectations”.

She also pointed out that the possibility of the new Trump administration further reviving the chip war with China is not a major worry anymore as Nvidia has a “significantly smaller exposure to China today than it did before”.

Closer to home, the benchmark STI was led by supermarket and retail store operator DFI Retail Group, which climbed 2.4 per cent or US$0.06 to US$2.54. Around 1.5 million shares changed hands.

The index was dragged down by telco giant Singtel, which fell 3.1 per cent or S$0.10 to S$3.13.

The trio of local banks ended the day mixed. DBS fell 0.8 per cent or S$0.36 to S$42.21, OCBC ended flat at S$16.48, while UOB slid 0.5 per cent or S$0.20 to S$36.23.

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