Singapore shares continue fall, down 2.7pc on the week
Asian nations try to shield against deadly outbreak
THE progress of the Wuhan coronavirus was the front and centre of the minds of investors this week. Given the virus has spread more rapidly than Sars while still at an early stage, it is unlikely to be on the back burner anytime soon.
On Friday, Singapore's Straits Times Index ( STI) managed to register gains shortly after the opening bell, thanks to a positive Thursday session on Wall Street.
However, the early advance was quickly erased as investors preferred to focus on the rising death toll and number of infection cases from the virus, instead of the World Health Organization saying a worst-case scenario was off the table.
The STI finished at 3,153.73, down 16.95 points or 0.5 per cent. On the week, the blue-chip index lost 86.29 points or 2.7 per cent from Jan 24's close of 3,240.02.
Elsewhere in the AsiaPacific, the picture was mixed. Australia, Japan and Taiwan notched up gains. On the other hand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea ended lower.
Fundamentally speaking,
Asian economies continue to show recovery. Economic data releases for December from China, Japan and South Korea have at least met expectations or beaten them. However, concerns over the spread of the Wuhan virus could derail recent progress.
"The Wuhan virus has obviously thrown a massive spanner in the works of that recovery picture. How long the virus hangs around will dictate how big that spanner in the economic cycle will be," Oanda's Asia-Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
Trading volume in Singapore was 1.99 billion securities, 68 per cent more than the 2019 daily average. Total turnover was S$1.59 billion, 50 per cent over last year's intraday mean.
Decliners outpaced advancers 265 to 164, with 14 of the benchmark's 30 counters ending in the red.
For much of the week, medical groups and rubber glove makers were the favourites of traders looking to make contra gains. For many of such counters, the bull run lasted until Wednesday before sharp declines, resulting wild share price swings.
Medtecs International was
in one such counter. On Friday, the medical consumables manufacturer shed 6.1 Singapore cents or 35.3 per cent to 11.2 cents with 217.6 million shares traded. It was the Singapore bourse's most active counter for three out of four trading days this week. Its shares closed as high as 19.6 cents this week, more than five times higher than 2019's closing price of 3.9 cents.
The local market's tourism and leisure- related plays took a beating this week, including Singapore Airlines (SIA). It managed to turn a slight gain to close at S$8.55, up S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent after closing at a 10-year low on Thursday.
SIA, along with Silkair and Scoot, said on Friday they will cut capacity into China after demand was hit by virus concerns. The national carrier also signed a partnership with Japan's All Nippon Airways to boost the Singapore and Japan air hubs and improve flight connectivity for passengers.
Among property trusts that posted earnings for the September-to-December quarter, Ascendas India Trust units fell S$0.03 or 1.9 per cent to S$1.58 after posting a 4 per cent rise in Q3 distribution per unit to 2.12 cents.
Asian nations were ramping up defences against a deadly viral epidemic, sealing borders, shuttering public places and clamping down on visitors from China.
Concern over the steadily expanding contagion, which has killed over 100 in China and sickened more than 4,500, is prompting an increasingly urgent push for protection. Hong Kong, which has eight reported cases of the SARS-like disease, announced the sealing of six of its 14 border crossings to the mainland from Thursday.
The government in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of seven million had faced criticism for merely barring people from the outbreak's ground-zero, central Hubei province. "The epidemic has spread to many Chinese provinces. Only blocking visitors from Hubei can't do much to help Hong Kong," lawmaker Helena Wong said.
Singapore, with seven confirmed cases of the virus, has announced it will ban visitors who have travelled to Hubei as well as those with passports issued in that Chinese province.
Government official Lawrence Wong said the travel restrictions were not taken lightly and will be expanded if necessary.