STI up 0.24% amid cautious trading as Covid-19 cases rise

SINGAPORE shares edged up slightly on Tuesday amid a cautious trading session as the city-state faces a rising number of Covid-19 cases.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) *STI ended Tuesday up 0.24 per cent or 7.45 points to 3,108.53. Across the broader market, advancers outpaced decliners 249 to 215 after some 1.82 billion securities worth S$898.8 million changed hands.

The number of new infection cases in the community almost doubled to more than 1,200 cases last week, up from around 600 cases the week before, prompting the government to urge Singaporeans to scale back their non-essential social interactions.

"Upcoming new measures are in place to curb the recent increase in virus cases and there may be some relief for now that rolling back to previous tighter measures are the least-favoured approach," said IG's market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

Among the STI constituents, Hongkong Land Holdings H78 was the best-performing, following news of the property group's intent to invest up to US$500 million to buy back its shares in a programme extending until Dec 31, 2022. Shares of Hongkong Land ended the day up 12.6 per cent or US$0.53 to US$4.73.

"The share buyback programme should signal the stock's strong embedded value and therefore lend strong support to its share price," said DBS analyst Jeff Yau in a report on Tuesday.

Dairy Farm International Holdings D01 was also among top-performing counters on the STI, with shares ending 1.4 per cent or US$0.05 higher at US$3.60. DBS Group Research noted in a report that supermarkets could see increased demand as more people work from home and eat out less following the recent rise in cases.

At the bottom of the table was Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust BUOU , which fell 1.3 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.51.

Genting Singapore G13 was the most heavily traded stock on the blue-chip index. Its shares ended Tuesday flat at 78.5 Singapore cents after over 28.3 million shares changed hands.

Elsewhere in the region, it was a mixed bag. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.86 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.73 per cent while the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index eked out 0.12 per cent. Meanwhile Seoul's Kospi shed 0.50 per cent and the Jakarta Composite Index dipped 0.24 per cent.