Singapore stocks continue record run on Wednesday; STI up 0.4%

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended higher on Wednesday (Feb 4), with the local bourse closing at a record high for the second straight session.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.4 per cent or 21.41 points to finish at 4,965.50. Meanwhile, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index rose 0.6 per cent or 8.83 points to 1,498.18.

Across the broader market, losers narrowly outnumbered gainers 280 to 272, after 1.2 billion securities worth S$1.6 billion changed hands.

Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended flat, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.6 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.3 per cent.

Asian stocks have largely avoided the ongoing sell-off in US and European software makers so far, after artificial intelligence player Anthropic released a legal plug-in for its Claude AI service on Tuesday that spooked investors, wrote Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

“US software baskets took their worst hit since the tariff scare, and the shockwave crossed the Pacific on autopilot,” said Innes in a Wednesday note. “Asia followed briefly out of habit, then stopped obeying.”

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Wilmar led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 2.7 per cent or S$0.09 to end at S$3.46.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Mapletree Industrial Trust, with units falling 2.4 per cent or S$0.05 to close at S$2.04 after trading ex-dividend.

The three local banks ended higher. DBS gained 0.5 per cent or S$0.28 to S$59.33, OCBC rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.16 to S$21.44, and UOB added 0.4 per cent or S$0.16 to S$38.59.