STI snaps three-session rally, falls 0.05%

SINGAPORE shares retreated on Thursday, snapping a three-day rally as the initial euphoria led by elections and vaccine news subsided.

Sentiment across Asia was mixed, with key benchmarks for Hong Kong, Seoul and Jakarta ending the day lower; Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur were in positive territory.

Axi's chief global markets strategist Stephen Innes said: "Asia's focus was on the stalling stock rally, monitoring global Covid numbers and China's tech bounce following the wipeout in past days due to tougher regulation."

He added that "price action has started to show signs of a little vaccine exuberance exhaustion".

Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.05 per cent or 1.38 points to 2,711.90. Across the broader market, advancers lagged decliners 201 to 274 after 2.54 billion securities worth S$1.64 billion changed hands.

The biggest gainer within the STI was Keppel DC Reit (real estate investment trust), which edged up 3.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$2.79.

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At the bottom of the table was Sembcorp Industries, falling 2.4 per cent or S$0.04 to S$1.66. This was followed by DBS, which shed 1.8 per cent or S$0.43 to S$23.97.

Meanwhile, aviation and tourism-related stocks on the blue-chip index continued to build on gains, though at a slower pace. Singapore Airlines, Sats and Genting Singapore ended the day higher.

Genting Singapore was also the most active counter on the STI, gaining 0.7 per cent or 0.5 Singapore cent to 74.5 cents after around 42.6 million shares changed hands.

Outside the STI, Jiutian Chemical, which produces coal-based fine chemicals, was the most heavily traded counter by volume. Its shares sank 26.1 per cent or S$0.03 to 8.5 Singapore cents with over 728.7 million shares changing hands. This was despite the Catalist-listed firm posting a record set of results on Wednesday; it booked a Q3 attributable net profit of 51.9 million yuan (S$10.5 million) for the three months ended Sept 30, compared with just 2.4 million yuan a year ago.