[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended lower on Friday (Oct 31), as the regional market closed mixed.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 0.2 per cent or 8.82 points to finish at 4,428.62. Meanwhile, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index fell 0.7 per cent or 10.30 points to 1,451.18.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 299 to 268, after two billion securities worth S$1.4 billion changed hands.
Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.4 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 2.1 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 0.3 per cent.
Consumer group DFI Retail led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 3.5 per cent or US$0.12 to end at US$3.51.
The local banks all ended lower. DBS lost 0.1 per cent to finish at S$53.93, OCBC fell 0.1 per cent to S$17.03, and UOB was down 0.1 per cent to end at S$34.67.
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The worst performer among STI constituents was Frasers Centrepoint Trust , falling 2.5 per cent or S$0.06 to close at S$2.34.
Sophie Altermatt, economist at Julius Baer, said there is no clear agreement among investors on whether the recent meeting outcomes between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are worse or better than expected.
She noted that the meeting “effectively pauses the trade war” for a year, and it should help ease investors’ concern on trade risks temporarily.
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“We believe the market will now look beyond the US-China trade relations and focus on bottom-up evidence from the reporting season,” she said.
