STI broke week-long downward spell with 1.2% gain on Monday

THE Straits Times Index (STI) broke a week-long downward trend to end Monday up 31.24 points or 1.24 per cent at 2,549.4 points, as the number of Covid-19 cases fell to 799 on Monday, compared with 931 on Sunday. The statistics also showed the number of local transmission cases remaining contained.

Industrial Reits ranked among the best performers on the index. Ascendas Reit rose S$0.11 or 4.06 per cent to S$2.82, while Mapletree Logistics Trust rose S$0.07 or 4.05 per cent to S$1.80.

Shares of Sembcorp Industries also rose S$0.05 or 3.33 per cent to S$1.55, after its power-generation subsidiary Sembcorp Cogen last Friday obtained an order from the Singapore High Court to restrain oil storage terminal Universal Terminal - co-owned by debt-hit giant oil trader Hin Leong Trading - from moving, removing or disposing of any gasoil reserves designated for the subsidiary.

At the bottom of the STI's performance table were index heavyweights Jardine Matheson (down US$2.18 or 4.63 per cent to US$44.93) and Jardine Strategic (down US$0.40 or 1.75 per cent to US$22.46). The two counters have a cross-shareholding structure, meaning they have substantial investments in each other.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 249 to 165 for the day, with 1.27 billion shares worth S$1 billion changing hands.

The most heavily traded stock was offshore support vessel builder Nam Cheong, which declined S$0.001 to S$0.004 on news last Friday that it was reviewing its options after suffering the impact of the global oil and gas downturn and Malaysia's extended Movement Control Order, which had hit its operating conditions and financial position "adversely".

Meanwhile, Asian markets all finished in positive territory. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index gained 0.02 per cent or 0.31 point to close at 1,370.16 points. The Nikkei 225 Index and the Hang Seng Index rose 2.71 per cent and 1.88 per cent, respectively. The Nikkei 225 was also the standout performer for the day.