Singapore stocks begin the week in the black; STI up 0.3%

SINGAPORE stocks extended last week's gains to end in positive territory on Monday, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gaining 7.96 points or 0.25 per cent to close at 3,209.72.

Among the STI constituents, Sembcorp Industries emerged top of the table, advancing S$0.19 or 9.79 per cent to end at S$2.13. Coming in second was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which closed up S$0.07 or 5.39 per cent at S$1.37.

On the other hand, Thai Beverage slumped to the bottom of the index, ending S$0.025 or 3.36 per cent lower at S$0.72, following the deferment of the proposed spin-off and listing of its subsidiary BeerCo on the Singapore Exchange.

Aviation counters Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Sats also suffered losses on Monday, declining 3.15 per cent and 0.93 per cent respectively.

In its March 2021 operating results announced last week, SIA said that its overall passenger carriage was lower by 90.2 per cent year-on-year, as border controls and travel restrictions remained in place in many parts of the world.

On the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 244 to 224, as 2.46 billion securities worth S$1.66 billion changed hands.

BT in your inbox

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign Up

Sign Up

Across the region, Chinese markets similarly ended the day up.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 50.93 points or 1.49 per cent to end at 3,477.55, while the Hang Seng Index ended 136.44 points or 0.47 per cent higher at 29,106.15.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Tokyo stocks closed flat, with the Nikkei 225 index inching up just two points or 0.01 per cent to 29,685.37. Japanese health authorities are concerned that variants of the coronavirus are behind the country's emergence of a fourth wave.

Over in South Korea, the benchmark Kospi similarly rose just 0.22 points or 0.01 per cent to end at 3,198.84.

Olivier d'Assier, Qontigo's head of applied research, Asia-Pacific, on Monday said that investors have become "increasingly befuddled about what the (uneven) strength of the global economic recovery means for markets in the short term".

He also noted that markets are "rising on fresh new inflows, earnings are as good as expected, yet investors feel like they're not being told the whole story", adding: "Perhaps they should be reminded that in the entire history of the stock market, a whole story has never been told."