STI inches up 0.1% on Wednesday amid mixed regional performance

SINGAPORE shares edged up on Wednesday (Dec 13) amid mixed showing from regional indices.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 1.95 points to 3,104.26. Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 282 to 244. Around one billion securities worth S$772.9 million changed hands.

In the region, key indices were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index slid 1 per cent. But, Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended up 0.3 per cent, while the Bursa Malaysia KLCI ticked up 0.1 per cent.

Back home, Emperador led gains in percentage terms on the STI. Shares of the spirits company went up 1 per cent, or S$0.005, to S$0.52. Telco Singtel was the second-highest gainer, up 0.8 per cent, or S$0.02, at S$2.38.

At the bottom of the index was shipbuilder Seatrium , which lost 2.8 per cent, or S$0.003, to end the day at S$0.105.

The trio of local banks climbed on Wednesday. UOB gained 0.3 per cent, or S$0.09, to S$27.77, OCBC inched up 0.1 per cent, or S$0.01, to S$12.51, while DBS rose 0.8 per cent, or S$0.25, to S$31.82.

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Across the Pacific, US stocks extended their rallies on Tuesday, following the country’s inflation data release.

Charu Chanana, market strategist at Saxo, said that the US consumer price index was a “mixed bag”, as headline and core prints rose month on month but the headline on-year figure came down. Core on-year print was unchanged.

“Long-run trends continue to suggest that the disinflation momentum is extending,” said Chanana. “Meanwhile, with oil prices near their recent floor of sub-US$70 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate, there will be little reason for the Federal Reserve to panic about anything seen in the latest inflation report.”