Singapore stock benchmark heads for lowest close in eight months

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Concerns about a lacklustre economy and slowing growth among some of the country’s biggest companies sent Singapore’s stock benchmark on track to close at its lowest level since early November.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell as much as 0.7%, before trimming some of those losses.

The gauge, which is down about 3.4% this year, comes as investors move their money to better-performing markets in the region like South Korea and Taiwan thanks to a AI-driven revival in the chip sector.

"North Asian markets are doing pretty well and investors are rotating out of Singapore into these,” said Thilan Wickramasinghe, an analyst at Maybank Securities Pte.

The largest components on the stocks index like banks are not seeing margins expand as loan growth slows, adding to investor worry about the next growth engine, he added. - Bloomberg