STI down 0.67% amid Covid-19 resurgence, fresh lockdowns

THE Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.67 per cent or 19.2 points to 2,827.32 on Tuesday as the global Covid-19 situation deteriorated, sparking lockdowns and tighter border restrictions.

The coronavirus resurgence in countries including the UK and Australia produced gainers and losers on the Singapore Exchange.

Glovemaker counters including Riverstone, Top Glove and UG Healthcare saw their prices rise, with UG Healthcare registering the biggest gain - it climbed 9.65 per cent to close at 62.5 Singapore cents. Riverstone closed 6.25 per cent higher at S$1.19, while Top Glove was up 0.92 per cent at S$2.20.

In contrast, aviation-related counters such as Singapore Airlines (SIA), ground handler and inflight caterer Sats, and SIA Engineering were hit by the global flare-up. SIA dropped 3.43 per cent to S$4.23, Sats declined 3.19 per cent at S$3.94, and SIA Engineering was trading 3.48 per cent lower at S$1.94 at the closing bell.

SIA earlier announced it had used S$7.1 billion or about 80 per cent of the S$8.8 billion raised in the dilutive rights issue this year, as the national carrier continues to burn through hundreds of millions a month. This could force the carrier to tap the S$6.2-billion issuance of additional mandatory convertible bonds.

Sembcorp Marine topped the most active tally with 161.7 million shares traded. It was down 2.78 per cent at S$0.14.

Decliners outnumbered gainers 277 to 178, with 1.64 billion securities worth S$1.32 billion traded. Regional markets were mostly down, with the Shanghai Composite Index posting the biggest decline among the key indices of 1.86 per cent to 3,356.78 points. South Korea's Kospi Index dropped 1.62 per cent to 2,733.68, its greatest decline in two weeks.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.05 per cent to 6,599.57. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index declined 1.04 per cent to 26,436.39. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.71 per cent lower at 26,119.75 while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 0.97 per cent to 1,631.92.

SIA earlier announced it had used S$7.1 billion or about 80% of the S$8.8 billion raised in the dilutive rights issue this year.

This could force the carrier to tap the S$6.2-billion issuance of additional mandatory convertible bonds.

For full listings of SGX prices, go to https://www2.sgx.com/