STI steady, up 0.7% in mixed backdrop

Index's 21.22-point gain after 2 straight losing sessions comes despite soft China data and Wall Street's overnight retreat

Anita Gabriel

Published Thu, Nov 13, 2014 · 09:50 PM

Singtel

THE local bourse's key Straits Times Index displayed some resilience on Thursday and capped two days of straight losses with gains amid a mixed regional backdrop and despite Wall Street's overnight retreat and soft Chinese data.

The STI rose 21.22 points or 0.7 per cent to 3,304.93 led by gains in banking stocks and news-flow on mergers and acquisitions which were enough for traders to snub the falls in US stocks, which had halted five straight days of record closings.

The overnight fall in US indices was partly due to a dearth of market data, which provided traders a chance to take profit on the back of current valuations.