Singapore stocks rise on improved market sentiment from US-China talks; STI up 0.4%

SINGAPORE stocks gained on Tuesday (Nov 15), with the Straits Times Index (STI) climbing 0.4 per cent or 14.48 points to 3,275.28 as market sentiment appeared to improve after talks between US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit on Monday.

Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 335 to 261 after 1.89 billion securities worth S$1.45 billion changed hands.

SPI Asset Management Managing Partner Stephen Innes noted that market sentiment could have been lifted by Biden’s reassurance that there “need not be a new Cold War” between US and China.

“Though US and China still hold divergent views regarding Taiwan, human rights and trade policies, the meeting delivered some warm signals of the US-China relation, as the White House said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken would travel to China for a visit tentatively planned for early next year,” he said.

Regional markets were also up on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.2 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 4.1 per cent.

On the STI, DFI Retail Group was the strongest performer, gaining 2 per cent or US$0.05 to close at US$2.50.

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Sembcorp Industries was at the bottom of the table, shedding 3 per cent or S$0.09 to close at S$2.93.

The trio of banks were in the black after DBS and OCBC both raised fixed home loan rates to up to 4.3 per cent. DBS gained 0.9 per cent, or S$0.32 to close at S$35.18, while OCBC rose 1.2 per cent, or S$0.15 to close at S$12.47 and UOB gained 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to close at S$30.