Singapore shares add 0.3% on Tuesday

MARKETS in Asia mostly traded higher on Tuesday due to further optimism about Chinese measures to boost economic growth while waiting for further developments on the US-China trade front.

The gains on the day came despite concerns about a lacklustre US earnings season and the upcoming Brexit summit.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) overturned Monday's dip to close 10.18 points or 0.3 per cent up at 3,325.60 with 22 of the 30 blue chips that make up the STI ending in the black.

Trading clocked in at 1.15 billion securities, about 82 per cent of the daily average over the first two months of 2019. Total turnover came to S$1.07 billion, 4.6 per cent above the January-to-February daily average.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 202 to 175.

Pennies saw heavy trading on the day, with JCG Investment the bourse's most active counter with 60.1 million shares traded. The counter closed flat at 0.2 Singapore cent. The majority of the day's volumes were due to a sell-off of around 47 million shares late in the session.

Meanwhile, Genting Singapore continued to be the blue-chip index's most traded. Shares in the casino operator ended Tuesday's session down one Singapore cent or 1 per cent at S$0.97 with 36.7 million shares changing hands. Since last Wednesday's closing, the counter has fallen 10.3 per cent.

Going by value of trades done, DBS Group Holdings saw S$92.72 million traded - 9.3 per cent of the bourse's value of securities traded - across 3.44 million shares. The bank's shares, trading on a cum-dividend basis, closed S$0.18 or 0.7 per cent higher at S$27.00.

The other local banks, which also traded on a cum-dividend basis, were up on the day. OCBC Bank gained S$0.04 or 0.3 per cent at S$11.76 while United Overseas Bank closed flat at S$26.50.

Meanwhile, the OUE counters traded mixed the day since resuming trading following the announcement of plans to merge OUE Commercial Reit with OUE Hospitality Trust.

Parent company OUE Limited closed three Singapore cents or 1.7 per cent higher at S$1.80 but OUE C-Reit ended one Singapore cent or 1.9 per cent lower at 51 cents, while OUE H-Trust was one Singapore cent or 1.4 per cent lower at 72.5 cents.