Singapore stocks end higher on Friday in line with region; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE stocks closed higher on Friday (Jun 16), marking a second consecutive winning week.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.5 per cent or 17.18 points to close at 3,260.03. For the week, the market barometer was up 2.3 per cent.

The strong performance came despite weaker economic data released on Friday. Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports fell for the eighth straight month in May, shrinking 14.7 per cent year on year, more than economists predicted.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong said: “A low-for-longer growth outlook for Singapore seems to be the takeaway, validating the cut in 2023 growth forecast to 1.4 per cent, from 1.9 per cent previously, from a MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) survey this week.”

Sats shares led the STI gainers, climbing 5.8 per cent to close at S$2.74. Other top gainers for the day include Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust, and Venture Corp, which were up 2.4 and 2.3 per cent respectively.

Venture Corp was also the top gainer for the week, with its closing price of S$16.09 up 9.5 per cent from last Friday’s close. Meanwhile, Hongkong Land was the top decliner for the week, slipping 2.6 per cent over the five trading days.

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Across the broader Singapore market, gainers outnumbered losers 350 to 216 after 2.7 billion securities worth S$2.6 billion were traded.

Shares of Singapore Airlines snapped a 12-day winning streak to end at the bottom of the STI performance table on Friday, falling 1.8 per cent to S$7.77. The counter was the most actively traded by value, with 41 million shares worth S$319.2 million changing hands.

Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong and Australia led the gainers, with the Hang Seng Index and the ASX 200 climbing 1.1 per cent. Other key indices in Shanghai, Japan and South Korea rose between 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent.