Singapore shares rebound on Tuesday amid regional cheer; STI up 0.3%
Yong Hui Ting
SINGAPORE shares ended higher on Tuesday (Oct 17), taking their cue from key regional markets after a positive session on Wall Street. The Straits Times Index rose 7.94 points or 0.3 per cent to 3,171.83 after 953.7 million securities worth S$811.7 million changed hands.
Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 287 to 255.
Key regional indices largely recovered from Monday’s pessimism. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.8 per cent to 17,773.34, the Nikkei 225 ticked up 1.2 per cent to 32,040.29 and the Shanghai Composite moved up 0.3 per cent to 3,083.50. Australia’s ASX 200 expanded 0.4 per cent to 7,056.10 and the Kospi gained 1 per cent to 2,460.17.
“Risk sentiment appears tentatively to be taking hold, but this could swiftly change as investors are still grappling with the complex dynamics of the Middle-East crisis and its potential repercussions on the global economy,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
He noted that efforts to prevent a wider regional conflict in the Middle East from both the White House and other players could have contributed to a rally in financial markets, though such sentiment could change as the war progresses.
The market is not looking for a de-escalation – there is less demand for safe-haven assets as long as the situation does not get worse, he added.
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One of the top gainers on the Singapore bourse was UOB, which rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.17 to S$28.30. The other two major lenders also finished on a positive note. OCBC closed up 0.5 per cent or S$0.07 to S$13.07, while DBS ended 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$33.45.
Sembcorp Industries also rose on Tuesday, up 1.5 per cent or S$0.07 to S$4.73.
Meanwhile, Jardine Matheson fell for a second day in a row, after the counter lost 1.2 per cent or US$0.52 to US$42.36.
Seatrium, formerly Sembcorp Marine, was the most actively traded counter, with a transacted volume of 163 million shares. Shares of the maritime and new energy engineering solutions provider closed flat at S$0.124.
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