STI closes flat, while most Asian peers gain

SINGAPORE shares closed flattish on Wednesday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) ending 0.13 point lower at 3,107.49 points, on a day when most of its Asian peers posted gains and Wall Street closed at record highs.

With its net earnings having jumped 75 per cent, precision engineering group Spindex Industries was rewarded with an 8.33 per cent surge in its stock price to S$1.30.

The company stated that the sterling full-year financial performance was in part attributable to the pandemic, as remote working boosted demand for office equipment, domestic appliances and hobby-related equipment.

After it went ex-rights, oil and gas player Sembcorp Marine saw its stock price move up by 4.73 per cent to close at 9.3 Singapore cents. The counter closed as the most actively traded stock, with over 272.4 million shares having changed hands.

Gainers beat losers 300 to 176 on the broader market, with a turnover of 1.47 billion securities worth S$1.02 billion.

Asian markets closed with gains in general, with the exception of Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which dipped 0.03 per cent to 27,724.80 points and 0.13 per cent to 25,693.95 points respectively.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.38 per cent higher at 7,531.87 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index surged 0.74 per cent to 3,540.38 points.

South Korea's Kospi was up 0.27 per cent to 3,146.81 points. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index climbed 1.06 per cent to 1,569.80 points.