STI stocks fall, as SIA, Genting, OCBC tumble

[SINGAPORE] Shares of several Straits Times Index (STI) constituents fell in early trade on Friday (Aug 8), on the impact of earnings and amid tariffs kicking in.

Sembcorp suffered the steepest decline, as it dived more than 13 per cent. It was last down 13.1 per cent at S$6.78. On Friday, before the market opened, it reported earnings that fell 1 per cent to S$536 million for the first half ended Jun 30, on the back of lower turnover from its gas business.

Singapore Airlines tumbled more than 4 per cent to trade at S$6.55, while OCBC fell 2.3 per cent to S$16.69.

Genting Singapore was down nearly 4 per cent to S$0.725. On Thursday, after market close, it reported H1 profit that fell 34 per cent to S$234.7 million on weaker gaming and room revenue.

Higher US tariffs came into effect on Thursday, with duties at a baseline rate of 10 per cent for many countries and between 15 and 41 per cent for some.

The counters of a slew of semiconductor companies in Singapore also fell as US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would slap a 100 per cent tax on imports that include semiconductors.

UMS declined more than 5 per cent to S$1.44, while Frencken tumbled more than 5 per cent to S$1.59. AEM lost 4.5 per cent to trade at S$1.50.