Singapore shares rise to new high; STI up 0.3%

[SINGAPORE] Shares on the Singapore bourse closed higher on Wednesday (Jul 16), marking the third straight day the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) hit a new high.

Other regional markets ended lower, amid signs of rising US inflation that is dampening investor sentiment.

The STI rose 0.3 per cent or 12.43 points to close at 4,132.25 – just shy of its intra-day peak of 4,132.41.

Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 384 to 178, with 1.5 billion securities worth S$1.3 billion traded.

The top gainer on the benchmark index was City Developments (CDL), which rose 6.3 per cent or S$0.35 to S$5.92.

The property developer’s shares surged on Wednesday after it announced that its board director Philip Yeo, who had backed executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng in his boardroom battle against his son, would be retiring.

The biggest decliner was CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust. The counter fell 1.4 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.19. The trust was also the most actively traded counter by volume, with 27.3 million units worth S$59.8 million traded.

Regional bourses mostly ended Wednesday lower.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.04 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.9 per cent. Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.8 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 per cent.

Their performance follows Tuesday’s release of figures showed that the US consumer price index – an indicator for inflation – had risen 2.7 per cent year on year in June, up from 2.4 per cent the month before.

Alvin Liew, senior economist at UOB, said that the higher consumer price index figures for June show “clearer marks of tariff-induced price increases”. However, he expects the US Federal Reserve to remain patient in cutting interest rates amid uncertainty over the impact of US tariffs.

UOB continues to hold the view that there would be three rate cuts of 25 basis points each in September, October and December.