STI tracks Wall Street weakness, closes flat on Friday

THE Straits Times Index (STI) rose by 0.04 points to close at 3,294.86 on Friday (Jan 21) amid weakened investor sentiment due to global growth concerns.

Across the Singapore market, losers narrowly beat gainers 229 to 224, after 1.03 billion shares worth S$1.12 billion changed hands.

Said Singapore Exchange market strategist Geoff Howie: "While the week began squarely with global inflation concerns, global growth concerns have returned back into the frame, with some mixed earnings reports in the United States and US weekly jobless claims returning to October highs on the back of Omicron infections."

Additionally, he noted that the decline in US Treasury yields from Wednesday's highs has trimmed some of the gains that banks have made, with the trio of banks averaging a marginal 0.1 per cent gain this week, while maintaining 9.9 per cent gains since Dec 31.

The trio of banks were mixed on Friday. OCBC O39 was up 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to close at S$12.31, while UOB U11 climbed 0.2 per cent, or S$0.07 to close at S$30.37. DBS D05 was in the red, falling 1.2 per cent or S$0.44 to close at S$35.55.

On the Straits Times Index, Keppel Corp BN4 was the best performer, rising by 1.3 per cent or S$0.07 to close at S$5.38.

At the bottom of the table was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 , which closed down 1.5 per cent or S$0.02 to close at S$1.32.

Across the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent while South Korea's Kospi shed 1 per cent and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 0.1 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.5 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 per cent.