Singapore stocks track regional gains on Tuesday; STI rises 0.4%

SINGAPORE shares finished in the black on Tuesday (Apr 2), mirroring regional markets.

The local bourse’s blue-chip barometer, the Straits Times Index, expanded 0.4 per cent or 12.83 points to 3,247.72.

On the Singapore Exchange, gainers outnumbered losers 332 to 247 as about 2.2 billion securities worth S$1 billion were traded.

Regional peers also posted climbs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ticked up 0.1 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index added 0.2 per cent. The Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index ended 0.3 per cent higher.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.4 per cent after returning from its Easter break.

This was despite US indices showing a mixed performance after the Institute of Supply Management manufacturing survey came in at 50.3 for March. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction.

Saxo’s Asia-Pacific strategy team said in a note that the “hotter-than-expected” data “reignited doubts about the extent to which the Fed can ease policy rates”.

In Singapore, the top gainer on the STI was agribusiness Wilmar International , which closed up 2.3 per cent or S$0.08 to S$3.51. Meanwhile, shipbuilding company Seatrium pared its Monday gains to fall 3.4 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.084.

Outside the STI, shares of Best World International continued to rise, finishing up 4.1 per cent or S$0.09 to S$2.27. The beauty product distributor’s counter has risen steadily from its Mar 22 close of S$1.77, after it announced plans to delist through a selective capital reduction.

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Best World shareholders withdraw requisition notice

A requisition notice from its shareholders to table resolutions at the next general meeting was also withdrawn, the group said on Tuesday.

The three local banks ended the day higher. DBS added 0.8 per cent or S$0.29 to S$36.20, and OCBC closed up 0.6 per cent or S$0.08 at S$13.64. UOB gained 0.7 per cent or S$0.22 to S$29.66.