Singapore stocks rise after US court blocks Trump’s tariffs; STI up 0.1%

Singapore stocks ended higher on Thursday (May 29), after a US trade court on Wednesday blocked US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs from going into effect.

In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 4.92 points to 3,916.84.

Across the broader market, advancers outpaced decliners 309 to 170, after 1.2 billion securities worth S$1.3 billion were traded.

The top gainer on the benchmark index was the Singapore Exchange, which rose 2.3 per cent or S$0.32 to S$14.30.

Casino operator Genting Singapore was the biggest decliner. The counter fell 1.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.69. It was also the most actively traded counter by volume, with 64.3 million units worth S$44.4 million traded.

Markets across the region rose on Thursday on the news of the US court order. On Wednesday, the trade court ruled that the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the US than they buy.

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South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were both up 1.9 per cent. Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.2 per cent.

David Chao, global market strategist for Asia Pacific at investment management company Invesco, said that the US court ruling on tariffs will result in a delay in trade deal announcements as countries adopt a wait and see approach.

Against a backdrop punctuated by escalating and de-escalating tariff measures, non-US assets are “increasingly attractive and poised for continued outperformance”, said Chao.

“We view this as an opportunity for investors to diversify their portfolios across regions and asset classes and reduce concentrations,” he said.

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