[SINGAPORE] Local equities ended Wednesday (Sep 3) lower, even as data showed that manufacturing in Singapore improved slightly.
The sector’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) edged up to 50 in August from 49.9 in July, the threshold between contraction and expansion, data released on Tuesday by the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management indicated.
“Perhaps more significantly, the PMI for the electronics industry, which represents (around) a third of the country’s manufacturing, climbed from 50.2 in July to 50.4 last month,” said Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.
He added that electronics companies experienced an uptick in new orders, exports, factory output, supplier deliveries and input purchases.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent or 9.18 points to 4,289.33. Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 301 to 228, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$1.3 billion were transacted.
ST Engineering was the top gainer on the STI. The counter added 1.8 per cent or S$0.14 to close at S$7.88.
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The index was dragged by Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLCT), which declined 1.6 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.915.
The trio of local banks ended lower on Wednesday. DBS fell 0.6 per cent or S$0.31 to S$50.40, UOB was down 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 at S$35.56, and OCBC retreated 0.3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$16.80.
Regional indices posted a mixed finish, with South Korea’s Kospi rising 0.4 per cent and Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gaining 0.1 per cent. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.6 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.9 per cent.
Torres said this mixed showing came amid investor pessimism around geopolitics, with safe-haven gold reaching a new high for the first time since April.
He noted that Moscow and Beijing are “securing a pipeline deal that is strengthening prospects of long-term collaboration at a time when New Delhi is looking to get closer to its Far East neighbours, against the backdrop of weakening relations with Washington”.
