Singapore stocks decline amid spike in Covid-19 cases; STI down 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares fell on Thursday (Oct 28), in line with regional declines, amid a spike in local Covid-19 cases reported the day before.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) opened higher for the day but quickly gave up the gains and fell 0.4 per cent or 14.35 points to close at 3,203.82.

Daily Covid-19 infections in Singapore exceeded 5,000 for the first time on Wednesday, a number which the Ministry of Health said was "unusually high", adding that it will be monitoring the trend.

IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said the numbers may drive some concerns over healthcare system capacity, especially with around 80 per cent of intensive care unit beds being occupied.

"The STI is currently hovering around the Covid-era high, attempting to push higher ahead of the banks' earnings next week," he said. "That leaves the 3,220 level on watch as the near-term resistance to overcome."

Of the 30 index counters, 21 ended the day in the red, including the three local banks, DBS, OCBC and UOB; they fell between 0.2 and 1 per cent. Dairy Farm International finished at the bottom of the STI performance table, with its shares falling 2.8 per cent to close at US$3.53.

Only 4 counters on the STI ended the day higher, including CapitaLand Investment, which rose 1.7 per cent to close at S$3.49, emerging as the top gainer for the day.

Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 298 to 164 after 2 billion securities worth S$1.3 billion changed hands.

Shares of Raffles Education Corporation were among the most actively traded by volume, continuing the trend seen over the past week. The counter climbed 19.4 per cent to close at S$0.08 after 105.7 million shares changed hands.

Elsewhere in Asia, most markets closed lower with major indices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Australia and Taiwan falling between 0.2 and 1.2 per cent.