Singapore stocks snap 8-day losing streak on Tuesday, STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks ended higher on Tuesday (Oct 18), snapping an eight-day losing streak as regional markets rallied on the back of positive developments in the UK’s economic policy.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.3 per cent or 10.13 points to close at 3,025.88.

Gainers outnumbered losers 328 to 216, with 1.6 billion securities worth S$979.6 million having changed hands.

DFI Retail Group was the top gainer on the STI on Tuesday, rising 3.1 per cent to US$2.31 at the close. Some 231,400 shares worth US$530,000 were traded.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) rose 1.4 per cent to close at S$5.07, with 3.6 million shares worth S$18.2 million traded.

In the flag carrier’s September 2022 operating results, the group noted that SIA and Scoot carried 2.1 million passengers for the month. Passenger capacity rose by 2.5 per cent from the previous month, reaching about 67 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels for September.

The trio of local banks also closed higher on Tuesday. DBS gained 0.3 per cent to S$32.50, UOB rose 0.7 per cent to S$26.26, while OCBC was up by 1 per cent at S$11.59.

Elsewhere in Asia, key indices were largely up. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index gained 1 per cent, the Nikkei 225 Index was up 1.4 per cent, and the Hang Seng Index rose 1.8 per cent.

The SSE Composite Index in Shanghai was down by 0.1 per cent. This week, China delayed the release of some of its economic data amid its ongoing Party Congress.

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Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG, said: “Positive developments in the UK, with the shredding of the Prime Minister’s economic policy by the new chancellor, have brought a positive knock-on impact on the broader risk environment.”

He noted that the improved risk environment could provide a positive backdrop for Asia, and that the STI may also see further recovery in the near term, due to global risk-on sentiments and a return to more neutral technical conditions from oversold levels.

“That said, the longer-term upside for the STI remains a question for now, considering that fund flows from institutional investors pointed to an overall heavy net outflow of S$467 million over the past month,” Yeap said.