Singapore stocks hold firm after latest salvo of US tariffs; STI up 0.4%

[SINGAPORE] The local bourse extended its rally on Tuesday (Jul 8), after Washington announced the first wave of new tariffs on 14 countries – which did not include Singapore.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.4 per cent or 16 points at 4,047.86. Across the boarder market, gainers outnumbered losers 321 to 197, with 1.5 billion securities worth S$1.7 billion changing hands.

Six Asean countries received tariff letters from US President Donald Trump – a materialisation of the tariff-rate “differentiation” expected across the region, said OCBC Asean economists Lavanya Venkateswaran, Ahmad Enver and Jonathan Ng in a note on Tuesday.

While the reciprocal tariffs for Indonesia and Thailand remain unchanged from those announced on Apr 2, Malaysia now faces a higher rate – a “disappointing outcome” considering the country’s negotiation efforts, the team noted.

Meanwhile, the tariff on Vietnam has been lowered to 20 per cent, from 46 per cent previously.

The economists added: “It is a mixed bag of outcomes in terms of US tariffs for Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. While the tariff rates remain negotiable until implemented on Aug 1, we assess… growth risks as remaining material.”

They lowered their 2025 gross domestic product year-on-year growth forecast for Malaysia to 3.9 per cent from 4.3 per cent, and to 1.8 per cent from 2 per cent for Thailand.

Meanwhile, they raised their projection for Vietnam to 6.3 per cent from 5.5 per cent, and maintained their forecast for Indonesia at 4.7 per cent.

On the STI, ST Engineering was the top gainer, climbing 5 per cent or S$0.39 to S$8.21. Mapletree Logistics Trust was the biggest loser, falling 2.6 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.14.

Regional bourses closed mixed. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.8 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent, while Malaysia’s KLCI was down 0.5 per cent.