STI slips 4.24 points to close at 2,515.24; Singtel, ComfortDelGro among worst performers

A DECIDEDLY bullish tone on Wall Street overnight that sent the S&P500 index up 1.48 per cent to 3,036.13 did little to influence sentiment across the region, amid mounting concerns about US-China tensions.

The Singapore market fluctuated through Thursday, with individual stocks reacting to a mixed bag of news headlines and trading themes.

The benchmark Straits Times Index ended the day at 2,515.24, down 4.24 points or 0.17 per cent.

Among the worst performing components of the STI was Singtel, which ended Thursday at S$2.51, down 4.2 per cent.

This came after Singapore's largest telecoms player reported a 25.7 per cent drop in earnings - S$574.4 million - for its fourth quarter ended March 31.

Another significant loser on Thursday was ComfortDelGro, which closed at S$1.50, down 1.96 per cent.

ComfortDelGro said on Thursday that it would halve its taxi rents for June.

The best-performing index stocks for the day were CapitaLand Mall Trust, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Jardine Strategic Holdings. The three counters posted gains about 2.5 per cent on Thursday.

Elsewhere, after enormous gains chalked up by glove makers like UG Healthcare and Riverstone, attention seemed to shift to rubber suppliers.

Sri Trang Agro Industry bounced strongly in the morning and held on to its gains, ending Thursday at S$1.39, up 18.8 per cent.

Halcyon Agri was slower off the mark and endured more volatile trading. It closed at S$0.455, up 15.2 per cent.

The fundamental links between these counters and the Covid-19 healthcare theme are tenuous though, and it remains to be seen how much higher they will bounce.