Singapore shares slide in tandem with regional bourses and Wall Street
SINGAPORE – The fiscal uncertainty that has soured market sentiment in the United States sparked a sharp sell-off on Wall Street overnight and helped send most Asian bourses sliding into the red on May 22.
The Straits Times Index (STI) here got off lightly, sliding just 2.46 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,880.09 with losers hammering gainers 288 to 178 on trade of 1.1 billion of securities worth $1.4 billion.
The private banking and asset management group LGT commented that the tepid demand for a US$16 billion tranche of 20-year US bonds reflected investor concern over America's rising debt and fiscal situation.
The Congress tax and spending bill – if passed and expected to raise the nation's US$36.2 trillion debt – as well as the recent downgrade of the US sovereign credit rating from Moody's put equity markets under pressure.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that the high bond yields make it more difficult to justify today's stretched equity valuations, and the earlier rally fuelled by the tariff detente could be capped.
Regional investors were certainly on edge after the major indexes on Wall Street all declined between 1.4 and 1.9 per cent.
The Nikkei in Tokyo fell 0.8 per cent while Seoul's Kospi and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong both dipped 1.2 per cent.
Australia's market slipped 0.45 per cent, giving up some of the gains that had lifted the index to a new 50-day high earlier in the week.
Back on the STI, Singtel closed up 2.6 per cent to a 52-week high of $3.95 after the telco posted $2.8 billion in net profit for the second half and announced a $2 billion share buyback.
The counter was also the most traded stock and the index's top performer.
Meanwhile, Japan Foods fell 4.6 per cent to a 52-week low of 21 cents. The Catalist-listed restaurant player had earlier flagged substantial red ink for the financial year ended March. THE BUSINESS TIMES
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
8 hours ago
- Business Times
Indonesia expects to conclude free trade talks with EU by end of June
[JAKARTA] Indonesia said on Saturday that free trade negotiations with the European Union, which have been going on for nine years, are expected to finish by the end of June. Airlangga Hartarto, the chief economic minister for South-east Asia's biggest economy, met with EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Friday. 'Indonesia and the European Union have agreed to conclude outstanding issues and we are ready to announce a conclusion of substantial negotiations by the end of June 2025,' Airlangga Hartarto said in a statement. He did not disclose details about what agreements may have been reached. Representatives for the EU in Jakarta did not respond to a request for comment. The EU is Indonesia's fifth biggest trade partner, with total trade between the two reaching US$30.1 billion last year. Indonesia had a US$4.5 billion trade surplus, Airlangga said. Indonesia and the EU have previously disagreed on the EU's trade rules for products with potential links to deforestation which could affect Indonesian palm oil, as well as Jakarta's ban on exports of raw minerals. Indonesian officials have been motivated to accelerate talks on free trade agreements, keen to diversify the country's export destinations as they deal with US tariff challenges. Seeking to end US trade deficits worldwide, US President Donald Trump announced sweeping 'reciprocal' tariffs that have since been paused until July. Indonesia is facing a 32 per cent tariff rate. REUTERS
Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Straits Times
Singapore and the US still in early stages of tariff negotiations, says Vivian Balakrishnan
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he had fairly extensive discussions on tariffs during his visit to the US. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH Singapore and the US still in early stages of tariff negotiations, says Vivian Balakrishnan SINGAPORE – It will be some time yet before countries can know for certain the final shape of the United States' tariff regime against virtually all its trading partners. This is as, aside from the revisions and legal challenges to the trade barriers that have been announced, it is clear that the US is looking to conduct multiple rounds of bilateral negotiations with its trading partners, which will take time, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on June 7. His meetings with US senators and members of Congress also showed there was bipartisan recognition between the Republicans and Democrats that trade, investment, intellectual property protection, reliability and supply chain security remain vital issues to the Americans, he added. In a video call with the Singapore media to wrap up his five-day visit to Washington, Dr Balakrishnan said both sides reaffirmed the strong and stable bilateral relationship during his visit. 'The relationship with the United States is a vital, critical one for Singapore – it spans the entire gamut ... the economy, defence, security, and we're also pursuing emerging opportunities in areas like cyber security and energy,' he said. 'So it's a relationship which needs to be tended to, and attended to carefully.' In his meetings with senior US administration officials and members of Congress, Dr Balakrishnan conveyed Singapore's appreciation for the bipartisan support that enabled bilateral cooperation to flourish across a wide range of areas. Both sides also expressed commitment to continued constructive engagement and to advance cooperation in both traditional areas such as defence, as well as new and emerging areas such as critical technologies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Dr Balakrishnan told reporters he had fairly extensive discussions on tariffs during his visit, including their impact on open economies like Singapore, and that his US counterparts understood his perspective. At his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 4, Dr Balakrishnan said he raised the impact of the US tariff s, a nd came away assured that the measures were not directed at Singapore. 'Nevertheless, I expressed our concern with the secondary impact, because any impact on global trade, any friction in the system, will have an impact on an open economy like ours, where our trading volume is three times our GDP,' he said. 'So that point needed to be made.' Manufacturing activity in Singapore shrank for the second consecutive month in May on the back of global trade uncertainty, according to purchasing managers' index figures released on June 2. Dr Balakrishnan said he 'made the point repeatedly' to his US counterparts that America has a trade surplus against Singapore, and that the city-state should not be subjected even to the baseline 10 per cent tariff. That said, Singapore is more concerned with sectoral tariffs, and will be looking at them 'very carefully' so as to minimise these as much as possible, he said. The majority of US President Donald Trump's sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs announced on April 2 have been paused for 90 days, but on June 4, Mr Trump signed an order to double tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. In May, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said there were early indications that Washington was open to discussing how the Republic could ensure a continued supply of semiconductors to the US, and that talks were on for preferential or even zero US tariffs on Singapore's pharmaceutical exports. Dr Balakrishnan said: 'We're still in the early stages of our discussions and negotiations, so let's watch this space.' Responding to a question from the media on whether he faced any challenges engaging US officials on his visit, he said there were no hurdles to interactions with the Americans. 'They were very welcoming, courteous. We got along in our own usual direct and constructive manner, so I have no anxiety on that front,' he said. The anxiety is that the world order that had prevailed for 80 years and which helped Singapore to succeed – premised on free trade and the free flow of investments – is clearly changing, and this period of transition is 'the time of greatest danger', he added. This is a time when the Republic needs to be alert and prompt in responding to change, said Dr Balakrishnan. 'And it is also important to interact frequently, candidly, openly and constructively with our interlocutors, and especially with a superpower which is of great strategic importance to us,' he added. 'So what's important is to recognise that situation has changed, to be able to have complete, comprehensive and candid conversations, and then for us to take the appropriate precautionary measures or to make the necessary adjustments domestically as well.' Prior to being in Washington, Dr Balakrishnan met the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Lammy in London, with whom he discussed economic ties, geostrategic issues and potential areas of cooperation. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Straits Times
US judge approves settlement allowing NCAA schools to pay athletes
The approval resolves long-running litigation between the NCAA and student athletes. PHOTO: REUTERS NEW YORK – A United States judge on June 6 granted final approval to a US$2.8 billion (S$3.6 billion) settlement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that will allow schools for the first time to compensate student athletes for past and future commercial use of their names, images and likenesses. The settlement, approved in a ruling by US District Judge Claudia Wilken in the Oakland, California, federal court, resolves long-running litigation between the NCAA and student athletes. 'Despite some compromises, the settlement agreement nevertheless will result in extraordinary relief for members of the settlement classes,' Wilken wrote. She also said that the deal will 'permit levels and types of student-athlete compensation that have never been permitted in the history of college sports'. The ruling marked a 'historic day for college sports and the rights of athletes', the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler, said in a statement. In a statement, NCAA president Charlie Baker welcomed the judge's ruling. 'Student-athletes will benefit from the rich opportunities they enjoy now, plus far more scholarship opportunities, landmark financial benefits and a streamlined NCAA to support them,' he said. The NCAA denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The deal faced dozens of objections that it did not adequately compensate athletes or was unfair in other ways. Objectors to the deal now can appeal to the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The settlement, covering hundreds of thousands of current and former students since 2016, resolved three lawsuits that claimed NCAA rules barring payments to athletes violated US antitrust law. The US$2.8 billion will cover past damages. The plaintiffs' lawyers previously estimated the deal would provide tens of billions of dollars to class members over the next 10 years. Schools will be allowed to pay athletes from funds that universities receive from broadcasts and other commercial sources. The NCAA in April convinced a federal judge in Manhattan to dismiss a lawsuit seeking compensation for thousands of former student athletes who played team sports in college prior to 2016. Those students have filed an appeal. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
