Singapore stocks rise before festive break; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE shares rose on Tuesday (Dec 24) before investors took a break for Christmas, with the blue-chip barometer, the Straits Times Index (STI), continuing to be powered by overnight Wall Street gains.

The STI was 0.5 per cent or 17.22 points higher at 3,769.55 points by the closing bell on the shorter trading day of Christmas Eve.

National postal service provider Singapore Post climbed 3 per cent or S$0.015 to S$0.515, a day after its share price was pummelled following news that it had fired three senior executives, including group chief executive Vincent Phang.

Meanwhile, Sembcorp Industries emerged as the best STI performer on Tuesday, with the counter closing 1.7 per cent or S$0.09 higher at S$5.44.

On Monday, the energy and urban development company joined the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index as the sole new entrant from Singapore. The inclusion was part of S&P Dow Jones Indices’ annual review of its sustainability indices, which are grouped by themes such as emerging markets and the Asia-Pacific.

Transport heavyweight ComfortDelGro finished Tuesday S$0.01 or 0.7 per cent lower at S$1.44. It announced before market close that it would raise the platform fee for all taxi and private-hire car bookings made through its CDG Zig app to S$1 to S$1.20, from S$0.70.

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Effective from Jan 1, 2025, the move is to defray its operating expenses to support the Ministry of Manpower’s new initiatives for platform workers, including work injury compensation insurance and Central Provident Fund contributions.

Across the broader market, gainers beat decliners 286 to 130 after 534.8 million securities worth S$332.5 million were transacted.

Major indices in the US all rose on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1 per cent.