STI surges ahead with 16.6-point gain

REGIONAL benchmark indices had a mixed session on Wednesday, even after Chinese Q1 GDP, and industrial production and retail sales data for March, beat expectations.

China and Japan markets performed well, adding 0.3 per cent, while Australia dropped 0.3 per cent.

But Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) pressed ahead, outperforming its regional peers. The index had crossed the 3,350 mark during Wednesday's session, before closing at 3,348.64, up 16.60 points or 0.5 per cent.

CMC Markets' market analyst, Margaret Yang, told The Business Times: "The improved China data helped to underpin weakness from a weak non-oil domestic exports reading in Singapore, which fell 11.7 per cent in March due to a heavy decline in the electronic sector (-26.7 per…