Singapore stocks lifted on US bear market rally; STI up 0.5%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.5 per cent or 15.36 points to close at 3,290.08 points on Tuesday (Sep 13), tracking gains on Wall Street overnight as US equities extended the bear market bounce for the fourth day.

In the wider Singapore market, gainers edged out losers 257 to 244, with 1.24 billion shares worth S$926.9 million traded.

Performance was mixed across key Asian markets, amid uncertainty ahead of the release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data in the US.

South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index jumped 2.7 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.7 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.2 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 0.7 per cent.

“With the labour market remaining strong in the US over the last few months, the focus has remained on the inflation data to predict the path of the Fed’s rate hikes,” said Charu Chanana, market strategist at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore.

“(The US CPI report) can move the market pricing of the Fed’s rate path, and is the last key data point scheduled to release ahead of the Sep 21 Fed meeting,” she added.

CapitaLand Investment (CLI) was the top performer among the STI constituents on Tuesday, gaining 2.7 per cent or S$0.10 to S$3.75.

At the bottom of the table for the blue-chip stocks was Mapletree Industrial Trust, which shed 1.1 per cent or S$0.03 to close at S$2.60.

Genting Singapore was the most actively traded counter on the index, with 27.7 million shares changing hands. The counter ended up 1.9 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.79.

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Singapore shares rise on Monday’s open; STI up 0.2%

The trio of local lenders also closed higher. DBS rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.14 to S$33.63, OCBC climbed 0.7 per cent or S$0.08 to S$12.27 and UOB gained 0.5 per cent or S$0.14 to S$27.56.