STI falls 1.46% in line with regional markets

LOCAL shares fell alongside regional markets on Thursday on fears of a resurgence of the virus, as the Philippine central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to a new low to support the domestic economy ravaged by Covid-19.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 38.47 points or 1.46 per cent to 2,590.15. Losers outnumbered gainers 268 to 124, with 1.49 billion securities worth S$1.39 billion traded. 

On the index, all the counters fell except for Jardine Matheson and Jardine Strategic. 

Real estate companies did the worst on Thursday. Property developer UOL fell S$0.20 or 2.86 per cent to S$6.80, despite a bullish CGS-CIMB report on Thursday that named it among its top picks for its high recurring income base supported by rentals, hotel operations and investment holdings, as well as good office exposure through United Industrial Corp. Before it fell on Thursday, the stock was trading at a 42 per cent discount to revalued net asset value.

Conversely, Jardine Matheson rose US$0.32 or 0.77 per cent to US$41.98 on share purchases done earlier in the week. Shares of Jardine Strategic rose US$0.19 or 0.87 per cent to US$22.15. The two counters tend to move in tandem with each other due to their cross-shareholding structure.

The most active counter of the day was still Catalist-listed Singapore eDevelopment, continuing its share surge from Wednesday; on Thursday, it rose S$0.008 or 8.7 per cent to S$0.10 on the possible success of Covid-related medical products that its subsidiary produces. Close to 195 million shares changed hands.

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Regional markets mostly fell. The KLCI fell 0.89 per cent, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.22 per cent, the Hang Seng fell 0.5 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 per cent.