Consumer-linked stocks help STI inch up

A MIXED plate of stocks directly or indirectly related to consumers was coincidentally the main reason the local benchmark index managed to eke out a marginal gain on a largely bland Tuesday that also saw the listing of a restaurant operator on the Catalist.

The Straits Times Index (STI) inched up 0.1 per cent in the session on slightly stronger trading volume compared with Monday's, moving up 3.59 points to 2,933.44 ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in the United States on July 26 and 27 and the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) meeting on July 28 and 29.

While the blue-chip index tends to be driven by banks, that was not the case on Tuesday. Instead, its gains were led by stocks such as beer brewer Thai Beverage, telco Singtel, shopping mall owner CapitaLand Mall Trust and taxi company ComfortDelGro.