SINGAPORE – The local bourse ended in positive territory on June 6 after a call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping boosted investors’ confidence.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.4 per cent or 16.6 points to end at 3,934.29.
Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 266 to 205 as 849.5 million securities worth $1.1 billion changed hands.
Mr Xi and Mr Trump agreed to further dialogue on trade after their call on June 5.
Mr Trump said that disputes over rare-earth exports were resolved, and he had accepted China’s invitation to visit. Beijing said it had complied with the terms of May’s trade truce. Mr Trump also reversed his stance on Chinese students, welcoming them to study in the US.
Maybank’s research team noted in a report on June 6: “While this may be a positive development for risk, we are also wary that Trump may simply shift his attention to another country instead of China.”
The team expects Mr Trump’s trade and tax policy to continue swinging the markets, and highlighted that Mr Trump and Mr Elon Musk’s feud on social media offset some equity gains from positive US-China trade developments.
“We hold on to selling US dollar on rally alongside fading US exceptionalism, and a weaker NFP (non-farm payrolls) print would reinforce the narrative that US exceptionalism is indeed fading,” wrote the team.
On the STI, Sembcorp Industries led the gains, up 3 per cent or 20 cents at $6.85. Singapore Airlines was at the bottom of the list, down 1.3 per cent or nine cents at $7.09 on a cum-dividend basis.
The trio of local banks ended the day mixed. OCBC Bank was up 0.3 per cent or five cents at $16.28. DBS Bank rose 0.2 per cent or 10 cents to $45.12. UOB was down 0.1 per cent or four cents at $35.25 on a cum-dividend basis.
Regional markets closed mixed on June 6. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 per cent, while the Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.5 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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