STI rises but broad market sags

AS the first half of 2017 winds down to a close this Friday, the Straits Times Index on Tuesday rose 10.06 points to 3,219.53 in a relatively quiet but volatile session during which it closely tracked swings in the Dow futures. At 5pm, the latter stood just 18 points weaker after having lost about 50 points a few minutes earlier.

Turnover was an average 1.6 billion units worth S$936 million, and excluding warrants there were 197 rises versus 240 falls, so the session was weak.

In the property sector, shares of UOL rose S$0.09 to S$7.69 on volume of 2.2 million. The company last week announced an option agreement with Haw Par Corporation under which UOL has a call option and Haw Par has a put option for United Industrial Corporation Limited (UIC) shares, in a proposed transaction that may make UOL one of the largest owners of commercial space in Singapore. On completion, UOL's stake in UIC will increase from 44.71 to about 48.94 per cent.