SINGAPORE shares ended higher on Tuesday (Dec 27) as China announced it was ending its Covid-era quarantine rule for inbound travellers.

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.3 per cent or 8.68 points to close at 3,266.38, tracking gains in other Asian markets. Gainers outnumbered losers 209 to 143, after 776.4 million securities worth S$428 million changed hands.

China will no longer require inbound travellers to quarantine themselves upon arrival from Jan 8, the country’s National Health Commission said on Monday. Following the news, key indices across Asia rose. The Nikkei 225 Index closed 0.2 per cent higher, the Kospi Index rose 0.7 per cent, while the Jakarta Composite Index was up 1.3 per cent. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index ended flat, while the Hong Kong market was still closed for the Christmas holidays.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that inbound tourism is not a huge economic bounty for China relative to domestic tourism.

“But policy fast-track and an early exit (from zero-Covid) mean that growth could enormously recover much sooner than expected, with essential reopening plays like the yuan and oil markets trading higher as a result of the prospects of a first-quarter economic acceleration,” he said.

Innes expected that activity would remain weak in the near term, but added that growth could recover by the second quarter of 2023, rather than in the third.

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In Singapore, one of the top gainers on the STI was Mapletree Logistics Trust : M44U 0%, which rose 1.3 per cent to close at S$1.58.

Meanwhile, City Developments : C09 0% was among the top decliners. It fell 0.7 per cent to S$8.22.

The trio of local banks saw mixed trading on Tuesday. DBS : D05 0% gained 0.8 per cent to close at S$34.30, UOB : U11 0% ended 0.1 per cent higher at S$30.93, while OCBC : O39 0% fell 0.3 per cent to end at S$12.33.