STI drops marginally when most Asian peers post gains

DESPITE gains clocked by Wall Street the night before, Singapore shares found it hard to turn in gains on Wednesday (Oct 20) as the blue-chip gauge Straits Times Index (STI) dipped marginally by 0.93 point or 0.03 per cent to 3,198.08 points.

STI's flattish showing came as its peers in the United States continued their rally for the fifth straight day, driven by rosy corporate earnings that have kept the equity bulls going.

However, the International Monetary Fund has lowered its economic forecast for Asia-Pacific, as it expects the regional economy to recover from the consequences of the pandemic at a much slower pace, caused by low vaccination rates and high infection rates.

A17U , which posted a positive rental reversion of 3.7 per cent for lease renewals in the third quarter ended September, was one of the top STI performers with a 1 per cent gain when the counter closed at S$3.04.

Y92 lost 2.1 per cent to S$0.70 and ended at the bottom of the STI performance tally.

Sembcorp Marine, after flagging significant losses that would be over half a billion dollars for the half-year to December, was the most heavily traded counter with 185 million shares changing hands and closed 1.24 per cent down at S$0.08.

Decliners trailed gainers 219 to 264 on the broader market, with a turnover of 1.87 billion securities worth a total of S$1.10 billion.

Markets in Asia closed mainly higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.35 per cent to 26,136.02 points while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 soared 0.53 per cent to 7,413.67 points. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.14 per cent to 29,255.55 points. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index inched up 0.02 per cent to 1,606.32 points.

However, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.17 per cent to 3,587.00 points, and South Korea's Kospi closed lower by 0.53 per cent to 3,013.13 points.