STI sinks to 2012 low after Asian market bloodbath

Oil players were badly hit.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) sank to its lowest level in almost two years after Asian stocks suffered major losses in yesterday’s trading.

The STI plunged 2.7% yesterday, with big-cap oil players such as Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp Marine booking hefty losses. 

Other markets also suffered painful sell-downs. The Chinese stock market traded for only 14 minutes before dropping by over 7%, triggering circuit breakers to close the stock market. US and European equity indices also performed poorly.

According to KGI Fraser, the Singapore stock market is likely to continue trading downwards today and may continue to test the 2012 lows.

“Amidst a heavily risk-off market, we expect investors to have appetite only for defensives such as SingTel, StarHub and Singapore Press Holdings. Meanwhile, we like Croesus Retail Trust (S$0.795; BUY TP: S$0.91) as the stronger yen in a risk-off environment bodes well for the business trust with assets located in Japan,” said KGI Fraser.