STI posts subdued gains amid Asian optimism over US recovery plans

THE Straits Times Index ended Friday up 2.35 points or 0.1 per cent at 2,614.60.

The blue-chip index opened up 2.1 per cent in the morning on the back of overnight gains on Wall Street, but failed to build on its gains throughout the day.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mostly up due to optimism over the US' plans to reopen the economy, as well as slightly better than expected China gross domestic product (GDP) data.

China saw a 6.8 per cent contraction in GDP last quarter, the first negative growth reported since the early 1990s.

"The silver lining in the data is that the economy clearly passed the trough in February and started to recover in March. The bad news is that the recovery is uneven - with industrial sectors leading the household sector - and the overall economy is still operating at sub-par capacities," said Aidan Yao, senior emerging Asia economist at AXA Investment Managers, highlighting that the economy is still far from out of the woods.

Across the Singapore market, gainers outnumbered losers 299 to 166, with 1.59 billion securities worth S$1.62 billion having changed hands.

Real estate investment trusts (Reits) were among the index constituents' best performers. CapitaLand Mall Trust rose S$0.08 or 4.5 per cent to S$1.85. Mapletree Commercial Trust, which owns VivoCity, gained S$0.06 or 3.4 per cent to S$1.83, while Mapletree Logistics Trust ended at S$1.75, gaining S$0.05 or 2.9 per cent.

The Reits will stand to benefit from new measures announced on Thursday; these will give them greater flexibility to manage their cash flow and raise funds amid a challenging economic environment.

At the bottom of the STI's performance table was Wilmar International, which fell S$0.10 or 2.8 per cent to S$3.42.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the most heavily traded counter. Its shares dipped S$0.02 or 1.9 per cent to S$1.01, with more than 59 million shares being traded. 

All three local banks ended in the red. DBS fell S$0.10 or 0.5 per cent to S$19.28, OCBC shed S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent to S$8.86, while UOB dropped S$0.12 or 0.6 per cent to S$20.02.