STI remains in the red following lowered factory output, and rising number of infections

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) slid 1.3% week-on-week to 2,581.66 this morning, after Singapore’s factory output contracted for the second straight month in June.

On July 24, Singapore’s factory output fell 6.7% y-o-y, which fell short of the 2.6% forecast by private-sector economists in a Bloomberg poll.

The rising number of Covid-19 infections reported in the week of July 20, culminating in a count of 513 cases on July 25, and subsequently a slight dip to 481 cases in July 26, has also contributed to investor fears that an economic recovery may not be on the horizon just yet.