Singapore stocks end four days of losses; STI closes 1.6% higher

AFTER four days of closing in the red, Singapore shares rallied on Wednesday (Aug 7), with the blue-chip barometer Straits Times Index (STI) rising 1.6 per cent or 51.28 points to 3,249.72.

This came as global equity markets put Monday’s rout behind, with Wall Street indices closing higher overnight and Asian markets rising on Wednesday.

Alessandro Fezzi, LGT’s head of research, content and publication, wrote in a post: “We currently seem to be observing a certain degree of consolidation or stabilisation. Whether the stock markets can now start to recover or whether the downward trend will continue is difficult to answer. Apart from isolated company news, there is likely to be a lack of real impetus over the next few days.”

Companies that announced favourable financial results saw their share price getting support from investors.

Sembcorp Industries shares closed at S$4.73, S$0.28 or 6.3 per cent higher, a day after the company announced that net profit for the half year was up 2 per cent in the absence of loss from a discontinued operation. It was the counter with the best performance among the constituent stocks.

DBS Group Research gave the counter a “buy” recommendation with a higher target price of S$7.35 as it raised FY2025 earnings forecast by 6 to 11 per cent.

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DBS shares rose 2.7 per cent or S$0.90 to S$33.65, after the bank posted a 6 per cent improvement in its second-quarter net profit to S$2.79 billion. It is rewarding shareholders with a S$0.10 higher quarterly dividend of S$0.54 a share.

Gainers beat decliners 379 to 207 across the broader market, with a trading turnover of 1.2 billion securities valued at nearly S$1.8 billion in total.