STI snaps 2-day winning streak, falls 0.63%

SINGAPORE shares lost steam after a two-day winning streak, buckling on some profit-taking and lingering caution on Tuesday.

The key Straits Times Index fell 20.48 points or 0.63 per cent to 3,243.42. Traders shrugged off Wall Street's record overnight close that was led by optimism over the recovery outlook, strong earnings season and US President Joe Biden's massive infrastructure spending which trumped inflation worries. Pfizer's announcement that a pill to treat Covid-19 has proven to be hugely effective further spurred upbeat sentiments in the markets.

The STI has had a stellar start to the year's final quarter, having gained 3.6 per cent in total returns in October. On Monday, it hit a year's high, closing at 3,263.90.

The reopening of borders, rising commodity prices, encouraging global economic data and strong corporate earnings have led to great cheer in the local bourse.

Elsewhere, key regional gauges fared mix with Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Taiwan advancing while Japan, Australia and Malaysia ended in the red.

On the home front, some 2.89 billion units worth S$1.38 billion were traded. Losers outpaced gainers with 271 counters down and 192, up.

Shares of Catalist-listed HGH Holdings had a roaring day and was the day's second most active with 402 million shares worth S$10.4 million done. The stock hit a more than 3-year high on Tuesday's close of S$0.032 after rising S$0.017 or 113 per cent. The concrete manufacturer announced a tie-up with AAEX to explore developing a blockchain computing power financial service platform.

Prime US Reit fell US$0.045 or 5.11 per cent to US$0.835. RHB Research has maintained a "Buy" on the stock and raised its target price slightly higher to US$1.04 from US$1.03. The house cited positive factors such as leasing momentum gathering pace and rents holding up well across markets for the Reit being its top pick among US office Reits with an attractive yield.

UnusuaL Limited slipped S$0.007 or 5.15 per cent to S$0.129. The events-production unit of mm2 Asia, whose earnings have been hurt by the pandemic, reported its first-half year results on Monday; net loss for the period narrowed by 54.1 per cent to S$1.6 million. Although the worst may be over for the concert promoter, a recovery may be some way off as concerts and events are yet to resume on a large scale.