Singapore stocks fall 0.9% on Thursday as banks drag; Seatrium rises on earnings
Singapore stocks fell 0.9% on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index closing at 4,964.38, primarily due to declines in banking stocks. DBS, OCBC, and UOB all ended lower. Seatrium was the top performer, rising 3.2% after reporting a significant increase in net profit. UOL was the worst performer, dropping 6.1%. Manufacturing output surged 16.6% year-on-year in January, but future production may decline due to the Chinese New Year holidays. Regional markets showed mixed results, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 1.4% and South Korea's Kospi up 3.7%.
[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks closed lower on Thursday (Feb 26), weighed down by declines in the banking counters.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.9 per cent, or 43.35 points, to 4,964.38. The iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index slipped 0.6 per cent, or 8.8 points, to 1,517.79.
All three local banks ended in the red: DBS shed 0.9 per cent to S$57.16, OCBC eased 0.3 per cent to S$21.34, while UOB declined 0.6 per cent to S$36.76.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 375 to 254, with 2.1 billion securities worth S$2.5 billion traded.
Seatrium – trading on a cum-dividend basis – was the top performer on the blue-chip index, climbing 3.2 per cent, or S$0.07, to S$2.28.
This was after the offshore and marine player reported a 48.3 per cent increase in net profit to S$179.3 million for the second half ended Dec 31, 2025. Full-year net profit doubled to S$323.6 million.
UOL was the worst-performing STI constituent, sliding 6.1 per cent, or S$0.69, to S$10.68.
Separately, fresh factory output data released on Thursday showed that Singapore’s manufacturing output surged 16.6 per cent year on year in January, driven by a jump in electronics production, and beating private-sector economists’ forecasts.
“Looking ahead, February 2026 industrial production is likely to be biased lower (likely towards the 5 per cent handle) due to the Chinese New Year holidays,” wrote OCBC chief economist Selena Ling in a note.
Elsewhere in the region, markets were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.4 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi gained 3.7 per cent, while Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI edged down 0.4 per cent.
