Singapore shares buck regional trend to close lower; STI falls 0.4%
[SINGAPORE] Local stocks fell for the second straight day on Wednesday (Jun 11), bucking the gains in most Asian markets as investors are concerned about the lack of details in the recently concluded US-China trade talks.
While the world's two largest economies agreed to a preliminary deal on how to implement the consensus reached in Geneva, the full details of their accord were not immediately available. US negotiators said they 'absolutely expect' that issues around shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets will be resolved with the framework implementation.
Investors are also looking ahead to the latest US bond auction on Jun 12, where the Treasury is set to sell US$22 billion of 30-year government bonds. While part of its regularly scheduled borrowings, the results are keenly watched for an instant read on the scope of demand, at a time when investor appetite for 30-year US debt has soured.
'A lack of demand for US government debt would impede the rally's momentum and throw a bone to the bears,' Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said in a report, referring to the recent gains in American equities.
In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 14.75 points to end at 3,919.05.
In the broader market, gainers beat losers 310 to 183, with around 1.1 billion securities worth S$1.2 billion changing hands.
Venture Corp was the top blue-chip gainer, rising 1.2 per cent or S$0.14 to S$11.38. ST Engineering was the biggest decliner, falling 1.9 per cent or S$0.15 to close at S$7.71.
The trio of local banks ended lower. DBS fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.28 to S$44.87; OCBC dropped 0.7 per cent or S$0.11 to S$16.16; and UOB shed 0.4 per cent or S$0.13 to S$35.12.
Markets in most of Asia closed higher, with South Korea's Kospi up 1.2 per cent and leading the advance. This was followed by Taiwan's Taiex, which gained 1 per cent. Greater China markets also rose; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was the best performer, notching an increase of 0.8 per cent.
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