Singapore stocks kick off November on positive note; STI up 0.7%

THE Singapore market got off to a positive start in November, with the Straits Times Index (STI) rising 0.7 per cent or 20.88 points to 3,219.05 points on Monday (Nov 1) amid a day of mixed trading in Asia.

"The first week of a new month is off to a brisk start today with China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) releases," said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley.

He noted that China's official manufacturing and services PMIs for October both underperformed, causing some early palpitations.

"However, the privately compiled Caixin PMI rose unexpectedly to 50.6, providing some relief for regional markets," Halley added. "Elsewhere, Markit Manufacturing PMIs from across Asean and the Jibun Manufacturing PMI in Japan showed impressive improvements, lifting Asian recovery sentiment."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.9 per cent or 222.92 points to 25,154.32 due to the larger-than-expected contraction in Chinese factory activity, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.6 per cent or 754.39 points to end at 29,647.08 and South Korea's closed up 0.3 per cent or 8.26 points at 2,978.94.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index fell 2 per cent or 31.39 points to 1,530.92 and the Jakarta Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent or 38.46 points to 6,552.89.

In Singapore, decliners outnumbered advancers 270 to 220 for the day, with 1.8 billion shares worth S$1 billion changing hands.

The best performer among the index's constituents was Wilmar International F34 , which gained 2.1 per cent or S$0.09 to end at S$4.41.

The trio of local banks all advanced. DBS D05 closed 1.1 per cent or S$0.34 up at S$31.87, OCBC O39 ended 1.3 per cent or S$0.15 higher at S$11.95, and UOB U11 edged up 0.5 per cent or S$0.12 to S$26.87.

At the bottom of the STI's performance table was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 , which fell 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.40.

The most heavily traded stock was Thai Beverage Y92 , which gained 1.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.72 after 32.2 million shares changed hands.