Singapore stocks book gains for second consecutive trading day, STI up 1.1%

LOCAL shares advanced further on Tuesday (Feb 8), as traders shrugged off inflation fears and worries of US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 1.1 per cent or 35.26 points to cap off the trading session at 3,401.74. Across the bourse, gainers surged past losers 304 to 191, after some 1.6 billion securities worth a total of S$1.7 billion changed hands.

A note from UOB Global Economics and Markets Research noted that US stocks fell late into Monday's trading session amid renewed declines in big tech names. More market volatility can also be expected with the release of the US inflation report, it added, especially since a reading upwards of 7 per cent - the highest since the early 80s - is expected.

On the local bourse, UOB U11 was the top advancer, gaining 2.3 per cent or S$0.73 to S$32.65. Other lenders made gains too - OCBC o39 rose 1.3 per cent or S$0.17 to S$13.13, while DBS D05 was up 0.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$36.58.

Venture Corporation V03 was another top gainer, adding 4.1 per cent or S$0.72 to S$18.32.

On the other end of the spectrum, thinly traded Azeus Systems BBW was the biggest decliner. The counter fell 10.2 per cent or S$0.74 to S$6.55.

iFast Corporation AIY , one of the top performers on Monday, was one of the biggest decliners on Tuesday, falling 1.7 per cent or S$0.11 to S$6.41.

A couple of glove-makers were also among the worst performers for the day. Riverstone AP4 fell 2.7 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.735; Top Glove BVA was down 2.7 per cent or S$0.02 to S$0.73.

Over on the STI, only two stocks ended the day in the red. Hongkong Land slipped 0.9 per cent or US$0.05 to US$5.53, and Sats fell 0.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$4.05.

Disa Limited 532 was again the most actively traded counter by volume, with 180.7 million shares traded over the course of the day. The stock ended the day flat at S$0.006.

Other heavily traded stocks were Sembcorp Marine S51 , Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 and Singtel Z74 .

Elsewhere in Asia, markets ended the day mixed. The Hang Seng Index was down 1 per cent, and the KLCI inched down 0.04 per cent. The Kospi was up 0.05 per cent; Nikkei advanced 0.1 per cent, and the SSE Composite Index was up 0.7 per cent.