Singapore stocks rise with S-E Asia markets on Wednesday; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE stocks rose by 0.5 per cent, or 15.76 points, to close at 3,083.88 on Wednesday amid positive sentiment in South-east Asia over other North Asian markets.

Gainers beat losers 257 to 221, with 2.04 billion securities worth S$1.21 billion changing hands.

"Australia aside, there appears to be a notable rotation in Asia today into the Asean value markets from the more tech-centric North Asian heavyweights. The latter are also heavy net energy and commodity importers, as opposed to Asean, which may be raising the perception that Asean is a more defensive play in Asia at the moment," Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said.

However, he cautioned that a firm US non-farm payroll number on Friday could cause the Fed taper to be in play and affect South-east Asian stocks, which are generally more sensitive to higher US interest rates.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 per cent, or 137.66 points, to close at 23,966.49, while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.1 per cent, or 293.25 points, to close at 27,528.87 and Seoul's Kospi fell 1.8 per cent, or 53.86 points, to 2,908.31. In South-east Asia, the Jakarta Composite Index rose 2.1 per cent, or 129.28 points, to 6,417.32, while the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 1.9 per cent, or 29 points, to close at 1,559.42.

The best performing STI stock was Jardine Cycle & Carriage, gaining S$1.13, or 5.8 per cent, to close at S$20.75.

At the bottom of the table was Sats, which lost 1.2 per cent, or S$0.05, to close at S$4.17.

Other actively traded counters include palm oil producer First Resources, which gained 11.5 per cent, or S$0.19, to close at S$1.85.

The trio of banks were also up on Wednesday, with DBS gaining 0.2 per cent or S$0.06 to close at S$30.29, while UOB rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.11 to close at S$26.06 and OCBC climbed 0.4 per cent or S$0.04 to close at S$11.54.