Singapore market unmoved by Wall Street's overnight dip

SINGAPORE shares eked out modest gains on Thursday, unmoved by Wall Street's overnight dip as US Federal Reserve officials contemplated pulling back some central bank support.

The Straits Times Index (*STI : *STI 0%) closed at 3,109.81 points, up 0.18 per cent or 5.60 points.

Key regional markets were a mixed bag. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5 per cent; the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 0.33 per cent; Seoul's Kospi dipped 0.34 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 ended 0.19 per cent higher, and the Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.64 per cent.

Minutes from the Fed's April meeting suggest that discussions on tapering government bond purchases could begin "at some point" in upcoming meetings.

IG's market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said that while several central banks elsewhere have already slowed asset purchases in light of the improving economic landscape, signs of tightening monetary policy "tend to cause jitters" for markets. The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting in mid-June therefore remains a key focus.

Across the Singapore market, advancers outnumbered decliners 239 to 199 for the day, with 1.58 billion shares worth S$1.34 billion changing hands.

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Among the STI constituents, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (BS6) and Singapore Airlines (C6L) : C6L 0% were the top-performing stocks.

Shares of Yangzijiang edged up 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.45; SIA ended up 1.3 per cent or S$0.06 at S$4.76. The carrier had announced that it is proceeding with the issuance of additional mandatory convertible bonds to raise a further S$6.2 billion, despite a smaller year-on-year quarterly loss.

At the bottom of the table was Wilmar International (F34 : F34 0%), which fell 1.2 per cent or S$0.06 to S$4.76.

Thai Beverage (Y92 : Y92 0%) was the most heavily traded stock by volume on the blue-chip index, ending the day flat at 70 Singapore cents after about 41.6 million shares changed hands.