Singapore stocks end higher amid mixed regional trading; STI up 0.2%
On the STI, UOL is the top gainer, up 3.9%; Thai Beverage is the biggest decliner, shedding 1.1%
[SINGAPORE] Local stocks tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, amid mixed regional trading on Thursday (Sep 11).
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.2 per cent or 9.36 points to 4,355.82. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 311 to 221, with 1.5 billion securities worth S$1.3 billion having changed hands.
Overnight, Wall Street stocks rallied after the US posted soft producer price index (PPI) figures for August.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said: “What markets heard wasn’t just a tick lower in input prices; it was confirmation that the worst inflation ghost stories aren’t materialising.”
Equity valuations are “hanging in midair”, supported not by cheapness but by faith that US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s safety net will appear on cue, he said.
“The consumer price index is tomorrow’s main act, the twin dragons of food and energy stripped away so the Fed can stare straight into the core,” he said.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Elsewhere in the region, key indices were mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.2 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index gained 0.9 per cent, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 0.5 per cent.
On the STI, UOL was the top gainer, rising 3.9 per cent or S$0.29 to S$7.69.
Thai Beverage was the biggest decliner, losing 1.1 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.46.
The local banks ended mixed. DBS lost 0.3 per cent or S$0.16 to S$52.57, and UOB fell 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$35.46, while OCBC rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$16.88.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
