Singapore stocks gain on Friday as Reits continue to trade higher; STI up 0.6%

SINGAPORE shares ended higher on Friday (Feb 3), as real estate investment trusts (Reits) continued to climb amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will halt its interest rate hikes soon.

The Straits Times Index (STI) advanced 0.6 per cent or 20.61 points to close at 3,384.29 on Friday. Losers outnumbered gainers 306 to 281, after 2.2 billion securities worth S$1.4 billion changed hands.

Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG, noted that banks fell on Thursday due to softer rate hike bets.

“However, (the index) is somewhat supported by renewed traction in the Reits sector, which viewed the impending end to the rate hiking cycle positively,” he said.

Most Reits closed higher on Friday. The top gainers on the index were Frasers Logistics and Commercial Trust : BUOU 0%, which climbed 4.6 per cent to close at S$1.36; Mapletree Logistics Trust : M44U 0%, which rose 2.3 per cent to S$1.76; and CapitaLand Ascendas Reit : A17U 0%, which gained 2 per cent to S$3.

Meanwhile, the top loser was Keppel Corp : BN4 0%, which fell 5.1 per cent to S$7.26. On Thursday, Keppel said its net profit for the second half ended December 2022 fell 40.6 per cent to S$429.1 million, on the back of lower revenue from continuing operations.

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The trio of local banks all advanced on Friday. DBS : D05 0% gained 1.2 per cent to S$35.50, UOB : U11 0% rose 1.8 per cent to S$30.16, while OCBC : O39 0%put on 0.9 per cent to S$13.

Elsewhere in the region, key indices were mixed. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.4 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index rose 0.5 per cent, while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index inched up 0.04 per cent. However, the Hang Seng Index ended 1.4 per cent lower.