Singapore stocks climb on Friday to end volatile week; STI up 0.9%

SINGAPORE shares closed higher on Friday (Mar 17) in line with gains across the region as investors turned more optimistic to end a week of volatile trading.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.9 per cent or 27.74 points to close at 3,183.28. The rebound also meant the STI was up 0.2 per cent from last Friday’s close.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 307 to 233, after 2.3 billion securities worth S$1.9 billion were traded.

CapitaLand Investment was the top STI gainer, rising 2.6 per cent to close at S$3.56.

Meanwhile, Emperador slipped 1.9 per cent to S$0.51, ending at the bottom of the index performance table.

The trio of local banks logged a mixed performance. DBS shares closed unchanged at S$32.55, but UOB and OCBC were gainers, rising 1.9 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.

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For the week, Sats was the top index gainer, rising 7 per cent over the five trading days. Meanwhile, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the worst STI performer this week, after its shares fell 6.9 per cent.

Elsewhere in the region, most markets closed higher on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, where major US indices were in risk-on mode.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong noted that easing concerns over a wider meltdown was at play, with gold prices also stagnating following a surge in the past week.

“But the absence of a wider bearish move (in gold) suggests that the risk environment is still treading on some cautious optimism while dovish rate expectations also remain supportive of the yellow metal,” he added.

The Shanghai Composite Index and South Korea’s Kospi both rose 0.7 per cent on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.2 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index ended the day 1.6 per cent higher.