Singapore shares buck regional trend, STI up 0.12%

SINGAPORE shares were pushed into positive territory on Tuesday (Mar 15), bucking the broad-market trend as concerns over the lockdown of tech hub Shenzhen and Russia-Ukraine tensions continue to weigh on sentiments.

The Straits Times Index (STI) *STI rose 0.12 per cent or 4.01 points to 3,236.04, led by gains from local banks.

Most benchmark indices in the region ended the day lower, given the possibility of further lockdowns in China.

"Cases are still rising in China, and Shanghai is also subject to tactical lockdowns within the city. Fears continue to dog stock markets that lockdowns could spread, which would severely impact China's growth," said Oanda Asia-Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.

Hong Kong tech firms led another sharp equity sell-off with the Hang Seng Index ending the day 5.72 per cent lower. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.91 per cent; the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 0.64 while the Jakarta Composite Index dipped 0.49 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei 225, on the other hand, was up 0.15 per cent as inflation fears receded following a retreat in oil prices.

Across the Singapore market, decliners outpaced advancers 326 to 179. Some 1.67 billion securities worth S$1.54 billion changed hands.

Among the STI constituents, DBS D05 and UOB U11 were the top-performing stocks. DBS was up 2.2 per cent or S$0.73 to S$33.89 and UOB rose 1.4 per cent or S$0.43 to S$30.53. OCBC O39 ended the day flat at S$11.70.

At the bottom of the table was Hongkong Land H78 which fell 4.2 per cent or US$0.21 to US$4.84.

The most heavily traded counter on the blue-chip index was Thai Beverage Y92 with over 64 million shares changing hands. ThaiBev ended the day flat at S$0.665.