US tariff turmoil rocked marketsbc – again

Date: March 17, 2025

• Wall Street was again rocked by tariff worries
• The STI fell 2%, major US indices down 2.3-3.1%
• Despite benign US inflation numbers, concerns remain
• All eyes on the Fed this week
• Institutional Investors Book Highest Net Weekly Inflows Since December: SGX Research
• Trading Activity Rises for Singapore’s Mid-cap Stocks in 1Q25: SGX Research
• Kwek Leng Beng dropped lawsuit against son Sherman Kwek
• SingPost’s shareholders voted for sale of Aussie business

 

US tariff concerns rocked markets

The uncertainty over the impact of US tariffs on global growth sent Wall St stocks plunging for the fourth consecutive week despite relatively benign inflation releases.

As a result of a large US slide on Monday, the Straits Times fell 1.9% on Tuesday in heavy volume. With only modest rebounds that followed on Wednesday and Thursday, the net outcome for the STI was a loss of 78 points or 2% for the week at 3,836.02.

Average daily volume traded was S$1.68b which ranged between Monday’s low of S$1.26b to Tuesday’s S$2.34b, the latter being the highest daily business done for the month so far.

Despite Friday’s bounce, all major US indices down sharply for the week

Notwithstanding Friday’s rebound, all three major US indices were lower for the week – the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 3.1%, the S&P 500 by 2.3% and the Nasdaq Composite by 2.4%.

The week started with 2025’s biggest selloff, as recession fears from tariffs drove the S&P 500 down nearly 3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 4%.

The selling only intensified over the next few days, as US President Donald Trump went back and forth on tariffs and engaged in increasingly aggressive rhetoric with top trading partners. Things came to a head on Thursday, with the S&P sliding into correction territory for the first time since late 2023.

In a bright spot, both the consumer and producer inflation reports for February came in softer than anticipated, providing some relief.

But the good news, while providing some relief to markets worried about economic uncertainty and the potential for stagflation amid the Trump administration’s tariff increases, is unlikely to push Fed officials to ease monetary policy. Labour conditions and overall economic growth remain stable and inflation is still above the bank’s target of 2%.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, odds of at least one quarter-point rate cut through the Fed’s meeting in early May fell to 35.3% after the data arrived, compared with 38.9% on Tuesday.

Moreover, the University of Michigan’s latest survey of consumer sentiment came in weaker than expected.

“Confidence has plunged since the election and now the high-end consumer is feeling the pain’’ Rosenberg Research’s David Rosenberg was quoted as saying in US newspaper Barron’s on Friday.

“Expectations on everything from the stock market to employment to incomes have moved into the dumpster and inflation and interest rate fears are hooking up in a very disturbing fashion.”

All eyes on the Fed for this week’s meeting

All eyes are now on the Fed, whose monetary policy committee will kick off a two-day meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to keep its key policy rate steady, and the focus will be more on Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks about the economy and Trump’s tariffs.

Institutional Investors Book Highest Net Weekly Inflows Since December: SGX Research

In a 10^th March Market Update, SGX Research said in the first week of March, Singapore stocks recorded S$39 million in net institutional inflows, which was the first weekly instance of net buying by institutions across the local market since the last week of January, and represented the highest weekly net inflow since the shortened trading week ending December 27.

“The two sectors with the highest net institutional buying for the week were Industrials and Consumer Non-Cyclicals. The net inflows to these two sectors were substantial enough to more than offset their net institutional selling for the previous eight weeks from the end of 2024’’ said SGX Research.

“For instance, Industrials booked net institutional outflow of S$93.5 million for the first two months of 2025 before last week’s S$102.1 million of net institutional inflow into the Industrials Sector, led by ST Engineering and Singapore Airlines, reversed the preceding two months of net outflow.’’.

“Meanwhile, Wilmar International, Thai Beverage and First Resources led the S$22.6 million in net institutional inflow to the Consumer Non-Cyclical Sector last week, more than reversing the S$8.0 million in net institutional outflow for the Sector over the first two months of the year’’.

Trading Activity Rises for Singapore’s Mid-cap Stocks in 1Q25: SGX Research

In a 12 March report, SGX Research said Singapore mid-cap stocks with market capitalisations between S$1 billion and S$3 billion, have a combined capitalisation of close to S$75 billion.

“This segment of Mid-cap stocks has booked S$71 million of net institutional inflow in the 2025 year to March 12, versus the broader market booking net institutional outflow of S$1.4 billion’’ said SGX Research.

“The segment has also seen combined average daily turnover (ADT) increase 35% to S$67 million in the 2025 year to March 12, from S$50 million in the full 2024 year. Among the segment, Yangzijiang Financial Holding, UOB Kay Hian Holdings, and Frasers Hospitality Trust saw the greatest percentage increase in trading activity this year’’.

Kwek Leng Beng dropped lawsuit against son Sherman Kwek

City Developments Ltd (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng will be discontinuing his lawsuit against his son Sherman Kwek and six other members of the CDL board.

“I will continue in my role as executive chairman and Sherman Kwek will continue as group chief executive officer,” said Kwek Leng Beng in a statement issued on Wednesday. He added that all the current directors, including Jennifer Duong Young and Wong Su-Yen, will remain on the CDL board.

All the board members have agreed to put aside their differences for the greater good of CDL and its stakeholders, he said.

The senior Kwek’s statement brings to a close – for now – the series of dramatic and damning claims that started two weeks ago, with his Feb 26 statement that he had filed court actions against his son Sherman Kwek for an attempted boardroom coup.

CDL’s shares jumped S$0.15 to S$5.09 on Thursday after the news but fell back to S$5.05 on Friday for a net gain of S$0.02 for the week.

SingPost’s shareholders voted for sale of Aussie business

Singapore Post (SingPost) shareholders on Thursday voted in favour of the sale of the Australian logistics business Freight Management Holdings (FMH).

Of the shareholders who voted at the extraordinary general meeting, 99.9% supported the divestment, which is material in terms of the deal value, as well as the contributions that the Australian unit has been making to the group.

The sale of the business – at an enterprise value of A$1 billion (S$856.5 million) – to Australian private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners will reap A$775.9 million in gross proceeds and a capital gain of about S$289.5 million.

SingPost’s board said that it will consider paying a special dividend with the proceeds, which will also be deployed towards paying down the debt taken to acquire the logistics business in Australia, as well as to use as capital for future investments.

Maybank said it believes the sale will be approved by the Australian regulators and that SingPost’s sale of Singapore subsidiary Famous Holdings should also be sealed within 2 months and special dividends can be expected to be

declared along with its full-year results in May. The broker said it expects the dividends to be significant at around S$0.12-0.15 per share.

Investing with Insight: Watch this Week’s Technical Outlook

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