STI closed 0.34% higher on first trading day of the year

DESPITE Omicron cases rising, analysts see the outlook for Singapore stock market shining bright as they are sanguine about the reopening of the economy, and their views appeared to be borne out in the first trading day's performance.

The Straits Times Index (STI) saw an uptick of 10.57 points or 0.34 per cent to 3,134.25 points on Monday (Jan 3) - the day that Singapore reported robust gross domestic product performance for last year.

RHB analyst Shekhar Jaiswal sees market volatility as a result of the Omicron variant, but he believes Singapore will proceed with the gradual reopening of its economy. However, he sees upward movement for the index to be a slow grind, as investors await clarity on the normalisation of business activities and the impact of Omicron.

The 30-component blue-chip gauge saw 4 stocks closing in the red, with the majority posting gains.

Mapletree Commercial Trust was at the bottom of the STI performance tally, closing 4 per cent lower to S$1.92 after the lifting of a trading halt that was requested for its announcement last Friday on proposed merger with Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust.

City Developments closed up 1.03 per cent to S$6.88 as the property developer shares continued to stabilise from the low after a week of sell-off when cooling measures were announced by the government in mid-December.

Ntegrator International was one of the most traded stocks with a volume of over 52.4 million shares, after the Catalist-listed communications network specialist announced on Jan 1 a proposal to subscribe for S$9 million perpetual bonds and 1 billion warrants of Incredible Holdings. However, Ntegrator International shares closed down 37.5 per cent to S$0.005 on Monday.

Decliners trailed gainers 219 to 240 on the broader market, with a turnover of 1.17 billion securities worth S$ 676.3 million.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.53 per cent to 23,274.75 points and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dipped 1.18 per cent to 1,549.05 points. However, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.37 per cent to 2,988.77 points.

Markets in Australia, Japan and mainland China were closed for the New Year holiday.