Local banks lead Singapore shares higher on Monday; STI up 0.8%

SINGAPORE shares rose on Monday (Jul 4) amid mixed trading in regional markets, led by strength in financial stocks.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.8 per cent or 24.65 points to close at 3,120.24.

Local banks were among the top performers, with OCBC rising 1.1 per cent to S$11.42 and DBS climbing 1.7 per cent to close at S$30. UOB shares jumped 2 per cent to S$26.68, finishing at the top of the index performance table. 

Shares of Jardine Cycle & Carriage were the top STI decliner after falling 1.3 per cent to close at S$27.75

Trading activity on the local bourse was muted ahead of the US Independence Day holiday. Gainers outnumbered losers 241 to 206 after 963 million securities worth S$760.9 million were traded. 

Shares of seafood supplier Oceanus were the most actively traded by volume. The counter fell 5.9 per cent to close at S$0.016 after 76.5 million shares worth S$1.3 million changed hands.

Key indices in Japan, Shanghai and Australia ended the day higher, climbing between 0.5 and 1.1 per cent. However, stocks in Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia closed in the red.

Saxo’s Apac strategy team noted that July has historically been the third best month for equities, but this July, “markets face a cliffhanger of disappointment”.

“After the worst sell-off in half a century, the market pain for equities is probably not over,” they said in a note on Monday. 

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Singapore stocks advance at Monday’s open; STI up 0.5%

“Company quarterly earnings estimates are still too high, and market is not conditioned for weaker-than-expected results, and guidance level to come through for US Q2 and for full financial year in Australia, with reporting season kicking off in August.”