Hot stocks: Aviation, tourism-linked counters rise on Singapore's reopening

AVIATION and travel-related counters in Singapore were up in the morning on Thursday (Feb 17), after the Republic announced reopening plans that include relaxed pandemic restrictions and more vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs).

Shares of flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) C6L were up 2.1 per cent or S$0.11 to S$5.44 at 9.12 am, with 2.3 million shares changing hands. Its maintenance arm SIA Engineering (SIAEC) S59 rose 4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$2.35 at 9.08 am, with 429,700 shares traded.

Meanwhile, group handler SATS S58 gained 3.6 per cent or S$0.15 to S$4.30 at 9.05 am, with 1.7 million shares changing hands, while ST Engineering S63 inched up 0.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.88 at 9.29 am, with 838,100 shares traded.

As for hospitality group Genting Singapore G13, the counter gained 1.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.795 at 9.06 am, with 2.7 million shares changing hands. Transport operator ComfortDelGro C52 was also up, rising 3.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$1.52 at 9.01 am, with 5.2 million shares traded.

On Thursday, SIA closed up 1.5 per cent or S$0.08 at S$5.41, SIAEC closed up 4 per cent or S$0.09 at S$2.35 and SATS closed up 1.2 per cent or S$0.05 at S$4.20. ComfortDelGro closed up 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 at S$1.49.

ST Engineering and Genting Singapore closed unchanged at S$3.86 and S$0.785 respectively.

On Wednesday, Singapore announced various moves it was taking to reopen the country, including simplifying safe-management measures and streamlining Covid-19 recovery protocols.

The Republic was also simplifying Covid-19 border measures such as quarantine and testing requirements, and it also announced new VTLs, with Hong Kong, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

According to DBS Group Research, this "clearly demonstrates the government's commitment" for Singapore to reopen and regain its status as an aviation and business hub.

In a report on Thursday, the research team said the reopening was timely for hotel operators amid declining bookings for quarantine. The aviation sector should also benefit as more countries in the region relax border controls.

DBS expects a swift rebound in both inbound and outbound tourism from the second quarter of 2022, after the travel and tourism sector sheds Omicron's impact in Q1.

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