Singapore stocks rise on Thursday amid mixed regional trading; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks inched higher on Thursday (Aug 10) amid mixed trading in the region.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.3 per cent or 9.14 points to end at 3,322.93, after a day of market closure due to the National Day holiday.

Across the broader market, some 1.2 billion securities worth S$1.1 billion changed hands; gainers outnumbered losers 301 to 287.

Key indices in the region ended mixed on Thursday. The Kospi Composite Index fell 0.1 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 0.2 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.8 per cent, and the Hang Seng Index inched up 0.01 per cent.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong noted that market sentiments in Asia continued to reel from China’s low-for-longer growth outlook, as well as recent US orders to ban certain tech investments in China.

However, market participants seem to have grown more accustomed to China’s weak economic data over the past months, while keeping a lookout for the-worst-is-over scenarios, he said.

He also noted that growth sectors in the US bore the brunt of a sell-off as market participants de-risked ahead of the upcoming US consumer price index (CPI) data release.

He said: “With the US earnings season winding down, the upcoming US CPI data could dictate the trend over (the) coming weeks, largely seen as a key in determining if a September rate hike is needed.”

Thursday’s top gainer on the STI was Singapore Airlines , which rose 2.6 per cent or S$0.19 to close at S$7.40.

SEE ALSO

Singapore stocks open lower on Thursday; STI down 0.1%

Meanwhile, the index’s biggest loser was City Developments Limited . It fell 1.8 per cent or S$0.13 to end at S$6.99.

Earlier on Thursday, the property company posted a 94.1 per cent drop in first-half net profit to S$66.5 million, due mainly to the absence of significant divestment gains booked in H1 2022, as well as greater financing costs and impairment losses on its UK investment properties in the latest period.

The trio of local banks traded mixed. OCBC gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.09 to close at S$13.25, and UOB rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.22 to S$29.18. Meanwhile, DBS fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$34.23.