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Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
STI up 0.7%, in line with regional gains despite US tariff kick-off
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Across the broader market, gainers outnumber losers 320 to 201. SINGAPORE – Gains across regional markets gave investors all the excuse they needed to push local shares up for the fourth straight day despite continuing unease over tariffs. The heady sentiment left the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.7 per cent or 30.45 points at 4,258.15 on Aug 7 with gainers outstripping losers 320 to 201 on robust trade of two billion securities worth $2.1 billion. The results were largely reflected around the region. Malaysian shares added 0.4 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng both put on 0.7 per cent and the Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.9 per cent. Australia was the outlier, dipping 0.2 per cent but still at historic levels. The regional advances followed a positive session on Wall Street overnight, where an Apple rally helped push the Nasdaq up 1.2 per cent to a near-record. The S&P 500 added 0.7 per cent while the Dow industrials edged ahead 0.2 per cent. The gains came despite the higher tariff rates imposed by US President Donald Trump taking effect on dozens of trading partners. Mr Vishnu Varathan from Mizuho Securities noted: 'The cognitive dissonance involved in the Apple-led tech rally firing up Nasdaq bulls on one hand and Trump's 100 per cent tariffs on semiconductors is remarkable.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Liquor licences for F&B, nightlife venues extended to 4am in Boat Quay, Clarke Quay Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore CDC, SG60 vouchers listed on e-commerce platforms will be taken down: CDC Singapore Fine for man who damaged PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined over firm's failure to disclose Tuaspring info Business S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal Meanwhile, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the STI's top gainer for a second straight day, climbing 8 per cent to $2.84. The rally came after the Chinese firm reported that first-half net profit surged 36.7 per cent to a record high. The stock rocketed up around 11 per cent in early trade to hit $2.92, its highest level since February. UOB led the STI decliners, falling 1.8 per cent to $35.81, after reporting a 6 per cent year-on-year drop in second-quarter earnings that fell below analyst estimates.
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Singapore shares rise, mirroring regional gains despite tariff kick-off; STI up 0.7%
[SINGAPORE] Local stocks closed higher on Thursday (Aug 7), extending their winning streak to a fourth consecutive session, in line with broader gains across Asian markets. This came even as higher tariff rates imposed by US President Donald Trump on dozens of trading partners took effect. The Straits Times Index (STI) ended 0.7 per cent or 30.45 points higher at 4,258.15. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 320 to 201 after 2 billion securities worth S$2.1 billion changed hands. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the top gainer on the index for a second straight day, climbing 8 per cent or S$0.21 to close at S$2.84. The rally came after the Chinese shipbuilder on Wednesday posted a record-high net profit of 4.2 billion yuan (S$752.6 million) for the first half of 2025 , marking a 36.7 per cent jump from 3.1 billion yuan a year earlier. The counter surged more than 11 per cent in early trade , hitting S$2.92 by 9.35 am, up from Wednesday's close of S$2.63. This marked its highest level since February, when it reached S$3.30. Thursday's biggest decliner on the STI was UOB , falling 1.8 per cent or S$0.64 to S$35.81 , after reporting a 6 per cent year-on-year drop in second-quarter net profit to S$1.34 billion . BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The weaker result was attributed to a decline in net interest income amid narrowing margins, and missed the S$1.48 billion consensus forecast from a Bloomberg poll of six analysts. The other two local banking stocks closed higher on Thursday. OCBC edged up 0.3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$17.09; DBS , meanwhile, soared after it announced a rise in Q2 earnings to S$2.82 billion ; the counter briefly touched the S$50 mark before closing at S$49.75, up 1.8 per cent or S$0.90 on the day. Elsewhere in the region, key indices closed higher. Malaysia's Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.4 per cent; Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both grew 0.7 per cent. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.9 per cent, and Taiwan's Stock Exchange Weighted Index surged 2.4 per cent. The gains came as US President Donald Trump announced 100 per cent tariffs on semiconductor chips, with exemptions for investments made within the US. This explains the seemingly counterintuitive Apple-led rally in US tech stocks, said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia (excluding Japan) at Mizuho Securities. 'The cognitive dissonance involved in the Apple-led tech rally firing up Nasdaq bulls on one hand and Trump's 100 per cent tariffs on semiconductors is remarkable,' he added. More broadly, Varathan sees trade partners possibly using their American investments as bargaining chips to mitigate the impact of US tariffs. A prominent example is China, whose control over rare earth materials and dominant industrial position '(afford) concessions and partial immunity' from tariff pressures.
Business Insider
07-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Summer gas prices are headed even lower, as Saudi Arabia accepts the 'lesser evil' of cheap oil
Gas prices at the pump could get even cheaper just as Americans hit the highways for summer travel. Over the weekend, OPEC+ jolted markets by announcing it would flood the market with even more oil. Eight producers, including heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia, plan to ramp up output by 548,000 barrels a day in August — handily beating the 411,000-barrel increase analysts were expecting. The move sent oil prices tumbling on Monday, a sharp contrast to the surge in prices last month caused by heightened Middle East tensions. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were 1.4% lower at $66.05 a barrel at 12:08 a.m. ET, while international Brent crude futures were 0.7% lower at $67.83 a barrel. The price slump lands right as peak summer season kicks in, with millions of Americans hitting the road, and when demand for air conditioning soars. Gas averaged $3.16 a gallon in the US on June 30, down 11% from the same time last year, according to the Energy Information Administration. About half the cost of a gallon of gas comes from crude oil. A $1-per-barrel drop in the price of crude oil would translate into a decline 2.4 cents per gallon of gas, according to the EIA. Lower oil prices are the 'lesser evil' OPEC+ said it's lifting output thanks to "a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories." But analysts see something bigger at play. The output ramp-up is widely viewed as a bid by the oil cartel to claw back market share in the face of stiff competition from US shale and tepid demand from a prolonged slowdown in China. De facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, in particular, appears willing to stomach lower oil prices to preserve its dominance. This stance comes even as the International Monetary Fund estimates Saudi Arabia needs oil prices to be over $90 a barrel to balance its budget. But "softer oil prices may be the 'lesser evil' for Saudi, OPEC+, and arguably for the global economy, all things considered," Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's head of macro research excluding Japan, wrote in a Monday note. Lower prices may help Saudi Arabia reclaim lost market share, score political points by answering President Donald Trump's calls for cheaper oil, and cement Riyadh's influence within OPEC and the broader Middle East. "To that end, softer prices in the interim is a palatable enough (albeit a tad bitter) trade-off, that is facilitated by inherent advantage of comparatively lower cost of production," Varathan added. Saudi Arabia's strategy for OPEC+ could keep a lid on prices for a while. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect another production boost of 550,000 barrels a day of oil for September. The bank is keeping its Brent forecast of $59 per barrel average in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $56 a barrel in 2026. Commodity strategists at ING wrote that oil supply would tip into surplus should OPEC+ boost production by the same amount in September. "This supports the view that there's further downside for oil prices," the ING strategists wrote.
Business Recorder
05-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Asian stocks ease off recent peaks ahead of US tariff deadline
BENGALURU: Stocks in emerging Asian economies retreated on Friday from recent peaks as caution set in ahead of US President Donald Trump's July 9 tariff deadline, while currencies crawled higher as the dollar struggled to hold onto Thursday's gains. An MSCI gauge of equities in emerging Asia slid nearly 1% from a 3-1/2-year high notched in the previous session. Stocks in South Korea and Taiwan, making up more than a third of the index, weighed the most. A trade deal announced on Thursday between the United States and Vietnam sparked hopes among emerging economies in the region for a potential breakthrough with Washington ahead of the July 9 deadline. But scant details on the deal, tariffs well above pre-April 2 levels, and little clarity on how trans-shipments from China would be levied mean Asian countries will have to straddle a fine line between the world's two largest economies. 'It would be remiss to ignore the critical pillar of US trade deals with the rest of Asia, which is trained on undermining China's economic reach and influence,' said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia excluding Japan at Mizuho Securities. 'And so, other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and the US is significant.' Cautious investors will be keenly watching Trump's approach to tariffs and whether trade partners can secure best deals for their countries before the deadline. In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI fell 2% from a near four-year high, marking its worst drop since April 7. Taiwan's benchmark index slipped from a near four-month high. Stocks in the Philippines fell 0.7% from a more than six-week peak, while those in Singapore eased off from a record-closing high. Thai stocks came off a three-week peak, snapping a four-session rally. Vietnam's benchmark index slipped from its April 2022 high. The dong briefly touched a fresh low of 26,230 against the US dollar. It then recovered through the session to trade slightly higher.
Business Insider
03-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Trump didn't just cut a deal with Vietnam — he was targeting China, too
On Wednesday, Trump announced a trade deal with Hanoi that would levy 20% on imports from Vietnam, down from the 46% rate Trump announced on "Liberation Day." In return, Vietnam has agreed to allow American goods to enter the country duty-free. What's also significant is that Trump announced a 40% tariff on goods shipped from another country via Vietnam to the US — a move that analysts say is aimed squarely at transshipments from China. "The 'China quotient' in US negotiations with other Asian economies is arguably evident in the deal with Vietnam," wrote Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's macro research head for Asia, excluding Japan, in a Thursday note. "The US's intent is quite obviously to not disincentivize Vietnam's role as a substitute for China at a lower 20% tariff," he added. Vietnam has benefited from global supply-chain shifts away from China since Trump's initial trade war during his first term. In response to those tariffs, many multinational companies, including Chinese firms, moved manufacturing operations to lower-cost hubs like Vietnam to sidestep US duties. Last year, the US ran a $123.5 billion trade deficit with Vietnam, making it America's third-largest trade gap after China and Mexico, according to the US Trade Representative's office. A model for future trade deals? The move follows a temporary truce between Washington and Beijing in May, when both sides agreed to a 90-day pause in their tariff war. The US slashed duties on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China lowered its tariffs on American imports from 125% to 10%. Still, the transshipment tariff on Vietnam underscores the Trump administration's effort to close the backdoor for Chinese exporters seeking loopholes into the US market. "A tariff framework that targets transshipment while preserving the potential benefits of efficient cross-border commerce is a smart move— and a model for future trade deals — if enforced transparently and paired with clear rules of origin," wrote Eli Clemens, a policy analyst at Washington-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan research institute, on Wednesday. The move also shows that Washington can stop Chinese supply chains from extending themselves into Southeast Asia. "Future trade negotiations should also include targeted transshipment deterrents that level the playing field for US manufacturers and retailers," Clemens wrote. Asia in a bind Washington's focus on transshipment enforcement puts pressure on other Asian economies, which may find themselves forced to choose sides. "It would be remiss to ignore this critical pillar of US trade deals with the rest of Asia, which is trained on undermining China's economic reach and influence," wrote Varathan. The deal may also reinforce Beijing's view that US trade negotiations lacks "good faith." It could prompt retaliation — not just against the US, but also against Asian economies seen as siding with Washington. "Other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and US are significant," Varathan added. Despite reservations about the deal, it still excited investors. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite soared to record highs on Wednesday, and US stock futures are extending gains early on Thursday. Vietnam's widely followed VN-Index also rose to its highest level since April 2022.
