Singapore shares rallied yesterday as investors scooped up stocks in sectors hard hit by the pandemic, following positive vaccine news from drugmakers.

The local benchmark Straits Times Index ended the day up 3.67 per cent, or 95.64 points, to 2,705.

Across the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 304 to 218, with 2.81 billion securities worth $3.06 billion changing hands.

Said Singapore Exchange market strategist Geoff Howie: "The overarching trade today was rotation from technology and medical equipment plays into the bigger and broader financials, real estate, industrials and consumer sectors."

DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang said if a vaccine is safe, effective and widely used, business activities are likely to resume more quickly, while digital facilities may lose their edge. "The rally in the energy, financial and industrial sectors, alongside a fall in technology shares, reflected this expectation."

Aviation and travel-related stocks saw significant gains. Among the index securities, Singapore Airlines was the best performing, climbing 14 per cent to $3.91. Ground handler and food solutions provider Sats surged 11.5 per cent to $3.50.

The most heavily traded by volume was Genting Singapore, up 6.5 per cent to 73.5 cents after about 100.2 million shares changed hands. At the bottom of the table was electronics manufacturing services firm Venture Corp, which declined 7.1 per cent to $19.26.

Many healthcare and pharmaceutical plays, favoured since the pandemic began, ended the day lower but were among the most active. They include property developer and soon-to-be glove maker Aspen Holdings, glove maker UG Healthcare and Medtecs International.

Key benchmarks for Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur also ended higher.