Singapore-listed companies saw a 0.5 percent decline in their market capitalisation from $763.1 billion as of end-July to $759.4 billion as of end-August, a downward trend that could continue in the future, said analysts.
Property stocks beat a late retreat in the month after Monday’s announcement of the tightening measures aimed at cooling down the property market.
“With the newly announced property cooling measures, uncertainty will increase especially in the property market, and the property counters will see weakness,” said Stephanie Wong, research head at Kim Eng Securities.
Bank earnings are also expected to be affected as growth in mortgage loans slows, added Ms. Wong.
“The share prices (of banking and property stocks) will continue to stay depressed as investors try to assess the impact of the measures. So bank and property counters will be weak in the near-term.”
City Developments, the second largest developer by market value in Singapore, saw a 9.6 percent decline in market cap to $9.9 billion from end-July. In the previous two trading days, it lost $927.4 million in market value.
Keppel Land’s market value also declined 4 percent from end-July, while CapitaLand, the largest developer in Southeast Asia, saw a 1.3 percent drop in market value to $16.7 billion. Over the last two trading days, both CapitaLand and Keppel Land have seen their market cap dip $383.5 million and $72.4 million, respectively.
Three local banks also recorded lower market values over the past month. DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia by market value, saw a 3.6 percent decline in market value to $31.9 billion. UOB dipped 5.7 percent to $29 billion, and OCBC fell 4 percent to $28.5 billion.