Singapore stocks fall on Friday to end week in the red; STI down 0.6%

SINGAPORE stocks closed lower on Friday to end a second week in the red, amid a broader decline across the Asia-Pacific region.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent or 17.78 points on Friday to 2,902.52. For the week, the STI was down 3 per cent or 89.01 points.

"The mood has become quite gloomy on vaccinations, which may not be surprising given we are in the pandemic's darkest time so far," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi.

However, he added that the big picture does not change in terms of market outlook, with "an unprecedented amount of monetary and fiscal stimulus, a structural shift towards much more spending, a potentially unmatched economic rebound - whether starting in Q2 or Q3 - and a reasonable chance of inflation for the first time in several decades".

Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 294 to 208, after 2.82 billion shares worth S$1.89 billion changed hands.

Mapletree Industrial Trust was the top STI performer on Friday, climbing 1.4 per cent to S$2.87. Keppel DC Reit, which also finished in the black, was the top performer for the week.

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At the bottom of the performance table for the day and week was Keppel Corporation. It plunged 8.2 per cent to S$5.01 on Friday, after unveiling a plan on Thursday to exit the rig business and pivot to clean energy.

Sembcorp Marine, another rig builder, was the third most actively traded counter, with over 170 million shares changing hands. The counter fell 4.6 per cent to 14.5 Singapore cents per share.

Shares of iFast Corporation jumped 9.3 per cent on Friday to S$5.51. DBS Group Research raised its target price on the counter to S$6.40 on Thursday, on the belief that there is more room for growth in its assets under administration.

Elsewhere in Asia, major stock indices also closed lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was down 1.9 per cent to 27,663.39, and the ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.6 per cent to 6,607.40. Also in the red was the Kospi in South Korea, which slid 3 per cent to 2,976.21, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended at 28,283.71, down 0.9 per cent.