STI up 0.15% following news on easing Covid-19 rules, upcoming support measures

SINGAPORE shares ended the week in positive territory following news on expected relaxation of Covid-19 measures, and ahead of Finance Minister Lawrence Wong's ministerial statement next Monday, which will outline support measures for heightened Covid-19 restrictions.

The *STI ended Friday up 0.15 per cent or 4.76 points to 3,128.95.

Across the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 269 to 230 with 1.74 billion securities worth S$1.10 billion changing hands.

Traders will also be keeping an eye on the US jobs data on Friday evening, which will provide further information on the Federal Reserve's policy stance.

Any outperformance in job gains signals a quicker recovery in the labour force, said IG's market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

"That may potentially support the Fed's stance of an earlier timeline for rate hike and drive some volatility in the markets," he added.

Aviation-related and transport stocks were among the best performing on the blue-chip index. C6L was up 1.8 per cent or S$0.09 to S$4.98; S58 gained 1.3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$3.99 while C52 rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.64.

At the bottom of the table was V03 , which fell 1 per cent or S$0.20 to S$19.03.

Y92 was the most heavily traded on the STI with over 41.8 million shares changing hands. Its shares dipped 0.7 per cent or half a Singapore cent to 67 cents.

Elsewhere in region, it was a mixed bag. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.27 per cent while the Jakarta Composite Index gained 0.28 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.8 per cent; South Korea's Kospi shed 0.01 per cent and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 0.06 per cent.

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