Rotation into cyclicals puts Singapore shares at advantage as STI rises 1.22%

THE Singapore bourse saw its listed members benefiting from the rotation out of technology stocks into cyclical counters, as it continued to stand out on Tuesday against some regional peers.

Singapore's blue-chip barometer, the Straits Times Index (STI) dominated by banks and property, rose 37.37 points or 1.22 per cent to 3,108.53 points.

Head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, Vishnu Varathan, has observed that the overnight sell-off in Nasdaq but a higher Dow Jones suggests that the theme is one of rotation out of technology stocks into industrials and cyclicals, rather than indiscriminate "risk off".

Jardine Matheson's acquisition bid of Jardine Strategic gave investors a reason to be bullish about the diversified behemoth, with the counter hitting a new 52-week high at US$65.20, 5.16 per cent higher.

The conglomerate's unaudited results will be released on March 11, but it had already disclosed on Tuesday that underlying net profit for FY2020 was US$1.085 billion, with a corresponding earnings per share of US$2.95.

Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, tipped to be the candidate most likely to replace outgoing Jardine Strategic Holdings in the 30-member STI, shed 1.46 per cent to finish trading at S$1.35, as rising inflation fears hit the trust and many of its peers.

Mainboard-listed Oceanus was again the day's most actively traded counter. The seafood and fast-moving consumer goods value-chain manager continued to hog the tally with 504.8 million shares traded. The counter declined by about 23.26 per cent to S$0.033.

Gainers outnumbered losers 278 to 209 in the broader market; 2.49 billion securities worth S$2.32 billion were transacted.

Key regional markets were a mixed bag.

Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed about 0.99 per cent to 29,027.94 points, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 0.47 per cent higher at 6,771.16 points.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite was 0.80 per cent higher at 1,624.78 points at the closing bell.

South Korea's Kospi Index was 0.67 per cent lower at 2,976.12 points.

Shanghai Composite Index plunged about 1.82 per cent to 3,359.29 points, whereas Hong Kong Hang Seng Index closed 0.81 per cent higher at 28,773.23 points.