Steep declines in shares of Singapore’s 3 banks may be a ‘buying opportunity’: CMC Markets
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Straits Times Index
This follows a more hawkish outlook by the U.S. Federal Reserve, Daphne Tan, director of business development at CMC Markets Singapore, wrote in a Monday note.
Her comments come as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last Friday that he expects President Donald Trump‘s tariffs to raise inflation and lower growth, and indicated that the central bank won’t move on interest rates until it gets a clearer picture on the ultimate impact.
The pushback in expectations for rate cuts, has pushed rate sensitive sectors like financials under pressure, Tan explained.
The pullback in Singapore’s bank stocks can even be seen as a “buying opportunity for some, with valuations becoming more attractive amid ongoing market volatility,” she added.
— Amala Balakrishner
Tech stocks in Asia-Pacific posted massive declines on Monday amid fears of a global recession.
Declines in Japan were led by Renesas Electron which had plunged 14.10% as of 12.50 p.m. Singapore time.
Strong losses were also seen in SoftBank Group which was down 10.14% and Advantest Corp which had pared losses to 7.91%.
Over in South Korea, SK Hynix was last seen down 8.51% while Samsung Electronics fell 4.46%.
Losses among tech names in Hong Kong were mostly in double digits.
The worst performers were RoboSense Technology which had plunged 20.24%, Bilibili which dropped 16.94%, Kuaishou Technology which slid fallen 16.19% and Xpeng which had fallen 16%.
Significant losses were also seen in Alibaba Group and Meituan which were down 14.41% and 12.6% respectively.
— Amala Balakrishner
Economists at Nomura have lowered their growth forecast for Japan to 0.6% for FY2025, from 0.9% previously following U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
“We think that the impact of these tariff hikes will gradually emerge from Apr–Jun 2025,” the bank’s analysts wrote in an Apr. 5 research note.
The tariff hikes, they noted, are expected to “exert downward pressure on the Japanese economy” on the back of an economic downturn in the U.S. and surrounding regions as well as a decline in the price competitiveness of Japanese exports in the U.S.
“We estimate a 1.0ppt dent to growth in Japanese real exports (goods and services) and a 0.3ppt dent to real GDP growth compared to when there were no tariff hikes,” the analysts wrote.
There is still a “great deal of uncertainty about these estimates,” they acknowledged, adding that the degree of the impact could vary depending on the number of alternatives to Japanese products in the U.S.
— Amala Balakrishner
India’s benchmark indexes opened sharply lower on Monday.
The Nifty 50 was down 4.01% while the broader BSE Sensex lost 3.24% as at 9.45 a.m. Indian Standard Time, as markets across Asia-Pacific logged massive declines amid escalating global trade tensions.
The Nifty 50 benchmark is down 6.25% so far this year.
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Nifty 50 Index
Strong declines were seen in Tata Motors, which plunged 9.81%, its lowest one-day drop since February 2022.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries declined 5.03%, while shares of Gautam Adani’s companies also fell – with Adani Power was down 8.29%, Adani Energy down 8.08% and Adani Green down 6.21%.
— Amala Balakrishner
Australian mining stocks saw substantial declines on Monday, as gold prices slid on the back of escalating trade tensions.
Gold miners were among the worst performers in the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index.
Sharp declines were seen in Evolution Mining, which was down 7.15% and Kingsgate Consolidated, which declined 6.92%.
Meanwhile, Newmont Corporation lost 5% while Perseus Mining was fell 4.53%.
Sharp declines were seen in major miners, with Rio Tinto falling 4.12%, Fortescue sliding 4.85% and BHP Group dropping 6.22% as at 1.56 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time.
— Amala Balakrishner
Singapore’s 30-stock benchmark Straits Times Index plunged 6.26% to 3,585.93 as at 10.54 a.m. local time on Monday, to hit a new 52-week low.
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Straits Times Index
The decline was broad-based across industries, with losses led by the financials, industrials and consumer non-cyclicals sectors.
The top three worst performing stocks on the index were Seatrium which plunged 12.37%, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding which was down 9.68% and Venture Corporation which lost 9.38%.
Other markets in Southeast Asia were also under pressure over fears of a global recession.
Malaysian stocks fell with the KLCI down 5.29%, to its weakest in 16 months.
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ benchmark PSI crashed 3.14%, Thailand’s SETI was down 3.15% while Vietnam’s VN Index lost 1.56%.
— Amala Balakrishner
The yield on 5-year Japanese government bonds (JGBs) fell slightly on Monday to touch 0.761% as at 10.04 a.m. local time.
The yield had hit 0.725% – its lowest level since last December – earlier in the session.
The yield on 10-year JGBs, meanwhile, was last seen hovering at around 1.405%, after hitting a three-month low of 1.12% earlier in the session.
Yields fall when bond prices rise.
The moves come after U.S. President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff announcement.
The Japanese yen had gained 0.42% against the U.S. dollar to $146.32.
— Amala Balakrishner
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 10.21% as at 9.52 a.m. local time on Monday.
The losses were broad-based and were led by the basic materials, healthcare, consumer cyclicals and technology sectors.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index plunged 12.11%.
Among the worst performers in the index were Sunny Optical Technology Group which plunged 17.16%, BYD Electronic International, which dropped 16.85%, and Lenovo Group which lost 16.58%.
The Hang Seng Tech Index ETF shows the day’s moves:
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Hang Seng Tech ETF
Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex index plunged 9.62% to 19,249.82 as at 9.37 a.m. local time, its lowest level since March 2024.
The decline was broad-based across industries, with losses led by the basic materials, technology, energy and consumer cyclicals sectors.
The worst performers include Allis Electric, President Securities Corp and TECO Electric Machinery which all dropped by 10%.
The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF shows the index’s moves:
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iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF
Spot gold plunged below the $3,000 threshold on Monday after hitting a record high and crossing the $3,100 per last week.
The precious metal was trading at $2,981.69 per ounce as at 9.07 a.m. Singapore time, as investors sold off bullion to cover their losses from a wider market meltdown.
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Spot gold
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 share average plunged to its lowest point in more than 18 months.
The benchmark plunged 6.46% as at 10.50 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time to 7,170.60, its lowest since October 2023.
Strong declines were seen among names in mining as well as banking and financials.
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S&P/ASX 200
Japan’s Nikkei 225 share average tumbled to its lowest point in about 18 months.
The benchmark plunged 8.83% as at 9.25 a.m. local time to 30,794.21, its lowest since October 2023.
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Nikkei 225
The worst-performing stocks in the index include Fukuoka Financial Group which plunged 9.47%, Yamaha Corp which lost 9.32% and Kuraray Co which declined 9.26%, according to LSEG data.
The broader Topix index plunged 9.6%.
The declines were led by Land Co which dropped 12.5%, CareNet which was down 12.21% and KLab which lost 11.11%.
— Amala Balakrishner
