STI edges up amid falls in rest of Asia

Asian stock markets were mostly down today, as reported by Bloomberg:

Asian stocks fell, led by exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., after oil prices climbed and a report showed an unexpected drop in U.S. consumer confidence.

"We're right in the middle of pricing in the potential impact of surging oil prices and a slowdown in the global economy," said Yasumasa Nishimura, who manages $181 million in Japanese equities at Dai-Ichi Kangyo Asset Management Co.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks the performance of more than 900 companies, slid 0.9 percent to 85.17 at 5:15 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average shed 0.7 percent to 10,687.81. The Topix index lost 1.1 percent to 1084.64. Both indexes closed at the lowest since May.

Singapore was an exception, with the Straits Times Index (STI) edging up 0.25 percent to close at 1,877.6. The Singapore market was probably helped by news that retail sales for June rose an unexpectedly strong 17.6 percent from a year ago.

Smaller Singapore stocks, however, were hammered down. The UOB Sesdaq Index plunged 2.08 percent to close at 88.93, a one-year low.

The UOB Sesdaq Index is now down 19.3 percent year-to-date. In contrast, the STI is up 6.4 percent year-to-date.

It appears that the flight to quality is well underway, normally a sign that we are late in a bull market.