Singapore stocks edge up 0.3% on Friday to end week higher

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks closed higher on Friday (Apr 10), capping the week on a firmer note.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent, or 12.33 points, to 4,989.41, bringing its gain to 0.7 per cent from the previous week’s close on Apr 2.

The three local banks ended in positive territory. DBS was up 0.3 per cent, or S$0.15, at S$57.35. OCBC climbed 1.3 per cent, or S$0.28, to S$22.47, and UOB edged up 0.2 per cent, or S$0.09, to S$37.39.

Singapore Exchange was the top performer on the blue-chip index, rising 3.8 per cent, or S$0.78, to S$21.09. DFI Retail Group was the worst-performing STI constituent, dropping 4.9 per cent, or US$0.22, to US$4.29.

On Friday, DBS Group Research analyst Lim Rui Wen raised her 12-month target price for SGX to S$22.50 and maintained a “buy” call on the stock. The revision reflects structural shifts in Singapore’s bourse, as well as safe-haven inflows linked to the de-dollarisation trend, Lim wrote in a report.

“We believe the current volatility and Singapore dollar safe-haven inflows are structural in nature, and anticipate continued flows into Singapore, particularly for yield stocks,” she added.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 380 to 201, with 4.4 billion securities worth S$1.9 billion traded.

Regional markets also ended higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.4 per cent, and Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 0.3 per cent.

“Asian equities pushed higher into the close, extending their first weekly gain since the Middle East conflict began,” on Feb 28, said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, in a Friday note.

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“As the week closes, the tone is constructive but fragile. This is not a market celebrating resolution; it is a market renting optimism into the weekend, part conviction, part mechanics, fully aware that the bill gets settled when the screens light up again,” he added.