Singapore shares inch higher on Wednesday, with Reits among top gainers; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE stocks snapped a three-day losing streak to inch higher on Wednesday, even as regional markets mostly declined, with investors awaiting the outcome of the US Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 2.94 points on Wednesday to close at 3,141.75. The top five gainers on the STI were real estate investment trusts (Reits), with their units rising between 0.8 per cent and 2.1 per cent on Wednesday.

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) rose S$0.06 to close at S$2.94 - the top performer for the day - after it reported on Tuesday a 17.2 per cent increase in distributable income for its first quarter. DBS Group Research on Wednesday raised its target price for MIT to S$3.35 from S$3.25.

Meanwhile, Jardine Matheson Holdings finished at the bottom of the STI performance table for the day, falling 2.4 per cent or US$1.50 to US$60.40.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 264 to 216 after 1.35 billion securities worth S$1.24 billion changed hands.

Golden Energy and Resources shares were the most actively traded by volume, rising 6.6 per cent to close at 40.5 Singapore cents, after 60.9 million shares changed hands. The company said on Sunday it expects a "significant improvement" in its revenue and earnings for H1 ended June.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets mostly closed lower on Wednesday.

Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley noted that Asian markets were likely to spend the day in "wait-and-see mode with a slight downward bias" ahead of the results of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.4 per cent, Australia's ASX200 fell 0.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.6 per cent. However, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 1.5 per cent on Wednesday - snapping a three-day losing streak, during which it fell over 9 per cent.