Singapore stocks rebound on Tuesday as banking fears fade; STI up 1.1%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) rose 34.17 points or 1.1 per cent to close at 3,173.93 on Tuesday (Mar 21), paring some losses from the previous session on the back of gains on Wall Street.

The rebound was led by the trio of local banks. DBS jumped 2.1 per cent or S$0.69 to S$32.91, UOB added 1.7 per cent or S$0.47 to S$28.68, while OCBC ended 1 per cent or S$0.12 higher at S$12.20.

In the wider Singapore market, gainers outnumbered losers 319 to 234, with 1.34 billion securities worth S$967.5 million traded.

“With S&P 500 in positive territory coupled with the additional fact that implied volatility is falling back to nearly unchanged from where it was marked before this storm hit, the pattern suggests the market has mostly ringfenced, if not cauterised, the bleeding and extreme stresses in the banking sector,” said SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes.

Flagship carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) was the top performer among the STI constituents, rising 2.3 per cent or S$0.13 to end at S$5.69.

At the bottom of the table was spirits maker Emperador Inc, which gave back gains in the previous session to close 1 per cent or S$0.005 lower at S$0.51.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Emperador was one of only four STI stocks that ended lower on Tuesday. The other blue-chip losers were Singapore Exchange, DFI Retail Group and Hongkong Land, which shed between 0.2 per cent and 0.5 per cent.

The most actively traded constituent stock was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which finished 0.9 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$1.19, after 40.7 million shares changed hands.

Most key Asian markets also ended higher, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, the Shanghai Composite Index, South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up between 0.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent.