Singapore shares ended nearly flat yesterday despite an overnight rally on Wall Street as recovery is within sight following the widely deployed Covid-19 vaccinations in the United States. The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3,207.63 points, down 0.07 per cent or 2.11 points.
Said Mr Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda: "US equities had a mighty session overnight, powered by ISM and non-farm payroll recovery hopes."
Asian markets adopted a more cautious tone, with trading mixed yesterday. Key benchmarks in Seoul and Jakarta ended higher; Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur were in the red. The Hong Kong market was closed for a public holiday.
Mr Halley said: "That is a pattern (from) last week, where strong rallies on Wall Street were not replicated in Asia."
"Asian markets most likely need to see two consistent days of powerful rallies by Wall Street to start buying into the recovery trade once again," he added.
Across the Singapore market, advancers outnumbered decliners 206 to 173, with 1.98 billion shares worth $1.22 billion changing hands.
Among the STI constituents, Venture Corporation and Singapore Airlines were the top-performing stocks. Venture edged up 0.9 per cent or $0.19 to $20.40; SIA ended up 0.9 per cent or $0.05 to $5.64.
ST Engineering was also among the top five stocks on the blue-chip index. It ended 0.5 per cent or $0.02 higher at $3.95.
It, together with US tactical vehicle manufacturer Oshkosh Defence, has been selected to take part in the prototype phase for the US Army's Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle, Oshkosh said in a statement on Monday.
At the bottom of the table was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which was down 4.6 per cent or $0.06 to $1.26. It was also the most heavily traded stock, with over 53 million shares changing hands.
