Singapore Stocks to Extend Region’s Biggest Rout: Southeast Asia

Baring Asset Management Co. and Bank Julius Baer & Co. expect a deepening slump in Singapore stocks, the worst performers this year among Southeast Asian markets.

The benchmark Straits Times Index dropped 4.9 percent from Dec. 31 through last week, trailing gauges of Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine equities by at least 1.8 percentage points. Stocks sank as data showed home purchases tumbled last year to a four-year low and retail sales dropped, while manufacturing growth weakened in China, Singapore’s biggest export market.