STI gains 0.6% on triple shot of positive news

SINGAPORE shares closed higher, with the key Straits Times Index advancing 17.44 points or 0.62 per cent to 2,843.07 on Wednesday.

The gains were led by a triple shot of good news - vaccine cheer, better prospects of a global economic recovery and some progress on a US stimulus package. These very factors also drove Wall Street's major indices, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, to record highs overnight.

Big gains were logged across the region, except for China, with South Korea's Kospi being a stand-out performer for having gained more than 2 per cent. The Shanghai Composite bucked the trend and fell, partly led by latest inflation data showing that China's consumer prices in November fell for the first time since the global financial crisis.

"The broad narrative remains one of strong recovery in the long term, but with short-term risks skewed to the downside for growth on the back of the elevated Covid-19 cases," said IG's senior market strategist Jingyi Pan.

There was encouraging progress on the Covid-19 front after UK administered its early doses of the vaccines and signs emerged that the US could approve the vaccine for emergency use.

In Singapore, some 1.56 billion shares worth S$1.18 billion changed hands. Among the STI constituents, 18 counters were up and 10 down. Singapore's three banks DBS, UOB and OCBC, as well as CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), led the gains in the local bourse.

Geo Energy Resources closed unchanged at a 52-week high of 17.7 Singapore cents. Moody's Investors Service upgraded the mainboard-listed company's credit ratings on Tuesday, as it has eliminated near-term financing risk. Last week, the coal miner said its Indonesian mines have met the reserves conditions to prevent a put option from being triggered in April 2021 for its US$59.2 million of outstanding 8 per cent senior notes.

CICT rose 4 Singapore cents or nearly 2 per cent to S$2.08 and was actively traded with 24 million units worth S$49 million done. DBS raised the counter's target price from S$2.40 to S$2.50, saying that it is "too big to ignore" as it has become the largest integrated commercial Singapore Real Estate Investment Trust (SReit) at attractive valuations, following the merger of CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) and CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT).