Singapore stocks rebound following Wall Street advance; STI up 0.9%
Kelly Ng
THE Singapore market rebounded on Thursday (May 26) after 3 days of losses, tracking Wall Street gains and bucking the regional downward trend.
The Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.9 per cent or 29.6 points to 3,209.18 at the closing bell.
Singtel was the top gainer on the STI, gaining 3.4 per cent or S$0.09 to end at S$2.73. This follows reports that it has initiated talks with Bharti Airtel’s chairman Sunil Mittal on a potential sale of a “small” part of its holding in the Indian telco to the Mittal family.
The stock was also the most actively traded among index constituents, with 52 million securities changing hands throughout the day.
At the bottom of the table was Mapletree Commercial Trust , which ended down 1.1 per cent or S$0.02 at S$1.74.
All 3 local banks ended higher. DBS closed 1.7 per cent or S$0.53 higher at S$31.03, UOB advanced 1 per cent or S$0.28 to S$29.11, while OCBC climbed 0.9 per cent or S$0.10 to S$11.66.
Gainers beat losers 246 to 197 in the broader market, with 1.78 billion securities worth S$1.19 billion changing hands.
IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said improved risk sentiment on Wall Street following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s May policy meeting may have provided some relief.
“The pocket of optimism comes from their stance that an ‘expedited’ tightening may leave some flexibility for policy adjustments later this year, though much will depend on whether inflationary pressures taper down significantly over the coming months,” he said.
Still, most regional indices adopted a cautious stance and ended in the red. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both fell 0.3 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2 per cent, dragged by heavyweight chipmakers, while the Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.4 per cent. Elsewhere, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index ended up 0.4 per cent.
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