SINGAPORE – The prospect of more Trump tariffs seems to be having little effect on the mood of local investors, given yet another positive outcome on July 9.

While markets elsewhere were more wary about trade ructions, traders here kept their eye on the ball and nudged the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.3 per cent or 9.96 points to 4,057.82 with gainers outstripping losers 287 to 187 on trade of 1.2 billion securities worth $1.2 billion.

UOL was the STI’s the top gainer, climbing 3.4 per cent to $6.61, while SGX was the biggest loser, down 1.2 per cent to $15.41.

The gains could not deflect real concerns that trade standoffs will flare up again after the White House confirmed the August 1 deadline for new tariffs. A 50 per cent tariff was also slapped on copper and a 200 per cent levy mooted for pharmaceuticals.

There was an immediate reaction: US copper prices hit a record high, while Wall Street flat lined after a wide sell-off the day before as gun-shy investors decided to keep their powder dry.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.4 per cent, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed a meagre gain of 0.1 per cent.

Regional bourses were in two minds as well. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent but Malaysian shares were down 0.1 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.1 per cent.

Australia’s market suffered its biggest one-day fall in nine weeks, slipping 0.6 per cent to its lowest daily close in two weeks – a downbeat note after the record high hit last week.

Wolfe Research analyst Tobin Marcus noted: “(Basically), nothing actually happened based on Trump’s letters, so there’s no reason to panic.

“But we think these moves contain some signal about where the trade war is heading, and that signal is mostly hawkish.”

THE BUSINESS TIMES

More on this topic