Singapore stocks end Wednesday higher; STI inches up 0.1%
Uma Devi
LOCAL shares ended Wednesday (Jun 28) on a slightly more upbeat note, alongside most other market indices in South-east Asia, as investors scoured capital markets for opportunities.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ended the trading day with a marginal gain of 0.1 per cent or 1.93 points at 3,207.28. Gainers outnumbered losers 289 to 216, after 1.2 billion securities worth a collective S$970.8 million changed hands.
Elsewhere in the region, the Nikkei 225 rose 2 per cent, and the Hang Seng Index and Bursa each gained 0.1 per cent. The ASX 200 added 1.1 per cent, while the Kospi declined 0.7 per cent.
Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said that global equities have now returned to “business as usual” after some early-week jitters.
“Markets are taking some comfort from US economic indicators, which are showing no signs of an imminent ‘hard landing’ with regard to growth,” he said, noting that home sales data, consumer confidence and durable goods data from the US all painted “a rather pretty picture of the economy”.
“However, if the data continues to reflect economic robustness, it probably won’t be long before financial markets again start to fret about the interest-rate implications,” he warned.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
On the local bourse, Nio was the top gainer, rising 7.4 per cent or US$0.64 to close at US$9.25. The company on Jun 20 announced that it had entered into a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings, an investment entity backed by the Abu Dhabi government.
Don Agro was another top gainer, adding 73.7 per cent or S$0.14 to S$0.33 after announcing the proposed sale of its crop and milk production businesses.
Jardine Matheson Holdings was the biggest loser for the day, shedding 1.2 per cent or US$0.63 to US$51.72.
Seatrium was the most actively traded stock on Wednesday, with about 217.9 million shares traded. The counter closed flat at S$0.126.
Other heavily traded counters included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , Singtel and watch-listed Lian Beng .
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
