SGX Weekly Review｜STI Drops 3.7%; DBS and UOB Sink 7%; Seatrium and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Tank 8%

Singapore shares plummeted 3.7% this week, extending a global market sell-off following US President Donald Trump's worldwide tariffs.

Stocks in certain industries listed in Singapore suffered hits of varying severity, following US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Market News

Singapore Won’t Retaliate Against US Tariffs But Seeks Talks

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong ruled out any immediate retaliation against the US after it imposed a 10% baseline global tariff that threatens to have a “significant impact” on the trading hub’s economy.

“We are naturally disappointed,” Gan, who is also minister for trade and industry, told reporters on Tuesday, indicating officials will seek talks over the levies. He cited the two nations’ traditionally close ties, and a longstanding free-trade agreement with the US that has mutually benefited both sides.

Gan said that the government has decided not to impose countermeasures despite being able to do so under the trade pact, because retaliatory import duties will just add costs for Singapore.

Singapore Retail Sales Fare Worse Than Expected, Down 3.6% in February from Earlier Chinese New Year

The Republic’s retail sales fell 3.6 per cent year on year in February, reversing the revised 4.7 per cent growth posted in the month before, data from the Department of Statistics (SingStat) showed on Friday (Apr 4).

SingStat attributed the decline to Chinese New Year being celebrated in January this year, as opposed to February last year.

February’s result was below the estimates of private-sector economists, who had expected retail sales to dip 0.2 per cent year on year, in a Bloomberg poll.

Singapore Government, Economists May Cut Growth Forecasts as Trump’s Tariffs Bite

Both official and private-sector forecasts for Singapore’s full-year growth may be cut after US President Donald Trump slapped a blanket 10 per cent import duty on all countries and more extensive reciprocal tariffs on the “worst offenders”.

The official gross domestic product growth forecast may be downgraded from the current range of between 1 and 3 per cent, as the situation has “turned out to be worse” than expected when the projection was made, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong told reporters on Thursday (Apr 3).

He warned of a “significant impact” from the 10 per cent tariff alone, adding that the government will give more help to households and businesses if needed.

Singapore PMI Slips to 50.6 in March

Factory activity in Singapore grew more slowly in March, amid rising global trade tensions and tariff uncertainties.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined to 50.6, down 0.1 point from February, data from the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) showed on Wednesday (Apr 2).

Still, this was the 19th straight month of expansion. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, and one below 50, decline.