[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks slid further on Wednesday (Apr 9) following this week’s rout, with US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs officially put in place.
The tariffs, which include a 104 per cent tax on many Chinese goods, took effect at 12:01am US time on Wednesday.
Around midday, the Straits Times Index was down 2.2 per cent or 74.73 points at 3,394.74. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 401 to 148 after 942.8 million securities worth S$1.4 billion changed hands.
Singtel was the most actively traded counter by volume around noon, trading higher at S$3.43 after 44.5 million shares were transacted.
Other actively traded counters included Yangzijiang Financial, down 2.2 per cent or S$0.015 at S$0.66 after 27.1 million shares changed hands, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding which also fell 2.6 per cent or S$0.05 to S$1.85 after 18.1 million securities were traded.
OKH was also up 8.8 per cent or S$0.003 at S$0.037 after 19.8 million securities changed hands.
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The local banks were a sea of red at midday. DBS dropped by 1.9 per cent or S$0.72 to S$37.28. OCBC was down by 2 per cent or S$0.29 at S$14.52, and UOB fell by 3.6 per cent or S$1.14 to S$30.99.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan has tumbled by over 5 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has retreated by nearly 2 per cent or 312.44 points.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kopsi index fell by 1.7 per cent.
Trump had initially imposed reciprocal tariffs of 34 per cent on China, but said he would slap an additional 50 per cent duty if Beijing did not withdraw the 34 per cent tariffs it imposed on US products it imposed in retaliation. That brings tariffs on China goods up to 104 per cent.
Wall Street stocks tumbled again on Tuesday as initially successful efforts to rebound from big losses faded amid worries over Trump’s trade wars.
All three major indices finished firmly in the red, with the S&P 500 shedding 1.6 per cent to 4,982.77, its first close below 5,000 points in nearly a year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.8 per cent at 37,645.59, a swing of about 1,780 points below its session peak, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 2.2 per cent to 15,267.91.
Over in Europe, shares rose from 14-month lows on Tuesday, after four straight sessions of heavy selling, though investors continued to watch developments closely as countries responded to sweeping US tariffs.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 2.72 per cent higher at 486.91 points after slumping over 12 per cent in the past four sessions.
