28-08-2013, 08:20 AM
STI down for 9th session; oil surges on Syrian tensions
http://www.todayonline.com/business/sti-...n-tensions
SINGAPORE — Worries over an imminent United States-led attack against the Syrian government boosted oil prices and undercut most global stock markets yesterday, with Singapore’s Straits Times Index falling for the ninth straight session, its longest losing streak in 11 years.
“The apparent certainty that military action against Syria is on its way has traders uncertain about what the repercussions will be for igniting a powder keg in an already volatile region,” said Capital Spreads analyst Jonathan Sudaria.
Benchmark US crude oil rose 2.1 per cent to US$108.18 a barrel while Brent crude jumped 1.7 per cent to US$112.62.
Gold for December delivery climbed 2 per cent to US$1,421.10 an ounce after having reached US$1,424.00, the highest since June 6.
The STI fell 1.6 per cent to close at 3,034.02, dragging the year-to-date performance to a 4.2 per cent decline. UOB shares fell 2.6 per cent, while those of DBS and SingTel shed 1.4 per cent.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, in his most forceful reaction to a suspected chemical attack in Syria last Wednesday, set the stage for possible military action when he said that President Barack Obama “believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people”.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said American forces “are ready to go”.
The Middle East tensions added to the negative sentiment resulting from an expected scale-back of US monetary stimulus. Among the key Asian stock indexes, Japan’s Nikkei-225 Index lost 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.6 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend to rise 0.3 per cent on positive economic data.
China’s industrial profit growth rebounded in July, with net income rising 12 per cent from a year earlier after gaining 6.3 per cent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The data added to signs the world’s second-biggest economy was stabilizing after a two-quarter slowdown.
In late European trade, London’s FTSE was down 0.9 per cent, Germany’s DAX lost 2 per cent, while France’s CAC shed 2.2 per cent. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.8 per cent lower about 10 minutes after the opening bell.
Meanwhile, there was no respite for the three emerging market “R” currencies due to concerns over the countries’ current account positions. Malaysia’s ringgit fell to a three-year low of 3.3348 versus the greenback before clawing back some losses to trade 0.7 per cent lower at 3.3312. Against the Singapore dollar, the ringgit fell a further 0.3 per cent to 2.5915.
The Indian rupee hit a new record low, falling 2.8 per cent to 66.075 to the US dollar despite central bank intervention. Indian shares also slumped, with the Mumbai Sensex down 3.2 per cent. The Indonesian rupiah slid 0.6 per cent to 10,848 per US dollar after hitting 10,883, the weakest level since April 2009, while the Jakarta Composite index fell 3.7 per cent to 3,967.84, the first time the benchmark had fallen below the 4,000 level in a year. - AGENCIES
http://www.todayonline.com/business/sti-...n-tensions
SINGAPORE — Worries over an imminent United States-led attack against the Syrian government boosted oil prices and undercut most global stock markets yesterday, with Singapore’s Straits Times Index falling for the ninth straight session, its longest losing streak in 11 years.
“The apparent certainty that military action against Syria is on its way has traders uncertain about what the repercussions will be for igniting a powder keg in an already volatile region,” said Capital Spreads analyst Jonathan Sudaria.
Benchmark US crude oil rose 2.1 per cent to US$108.18 a barrel while Brent crude jumped 1.7 per cent to US$112.62.
Gold for December delivery climbed 2 per cent to US$1,421.10 an ounce after having reached US$1,424.00, the highest since June 6.
The STI fell 1.6 per cent to close at 3,034.02, dragging the year-to-date performance to a 4.2 per cent decline. UOB shares fell 2.6 per cent, while those of DBS and SingTel shed 1.4 per cent.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, in his most forceful reaction to a suspected chemical attack in Syria last Wednesday, set the stage for possible military action when he said that President Barack Obama “believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people”.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said American forces “are ready to go”.
The Middle East tensions added to the negative sentiment resulting from an expected scale-back of US monetary stimulus. Among the key Asian stock indexes, Japan’s Nikkei-225 Index lost 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.6 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend to rise 0.3 per cent on positive economic data.
China’s industrial profit growth rebounded in July, with net income rising 12 per cent from a year earlier after gaining 6.3 per cent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The data added to signs the world’s second-biggest economy was stabilizing after a two-quarter slowdown.
In late European trade, London’s FTSE was down 0.9 per cent, Germany’s DAX lost 2 per cent, while France’s CAC shed 2.2 per cent. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.8 per cent lower about 10 minutes after the opening bell.
Meanwhile, there was no respite for the three emerging market “R” currencies due to concerns over the countries’ current account positions. Malaysia’s ringgit fell to a three-year low of 3.3348 versus the greenback before clawing back some losses to trade 0.7 per cent lower at 3.3312. Against the Singapore dollar, the ringgit fell a further 0.3 per cent to 2.5915.
The Indian rupee hit a new record low, falling 2.8 per cent to 66.075 to the US dollar despite central bank intervention. Indian shares also slumped, with the Mumbai Sensex down 3.2 per cent. The Indonesian rupiah slid 0.6 per cent to 10,848 per US dollar after hitting 10,883, the weakest level since April 2009, while the Jakarta Composite index fell 3.7 per cent to 3,967.84, the first time the benchmark had fallen below the 4,000 level in a year. - AGENCIES
