SINGAPORE – Local investors were largely indifferent to a buoyant session on Wall Street overnight, but still managed to nudge the market a little higher on March 20.
The muted optimism left the Straits Times Index (STI) up 3.9 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,177.48, with gainers beating losers 256 to 238 on trade of 2.06 billion shares worth just $876.5 million.
The session had promised to be a far more positive one after the S&P 500 climbed 0.6 per cent to a new record in New York ahead of an upcoming interest-rate decision that will rest on how the Federal Reserve views persistent inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8 per cent while the tech-focused Nasdaq advanced 0.4 per cent.
Regional markets largely took the hint. The Kospi in Seoul set the pace, rising 1.3 per cent, while Nikkei in Japan added 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.08 per cent higher and Shanghai put on 0.6 per cent.
Australian shares looked headed the same way but early gains were trimmed to leave the bourse down 0.1 per cent.
Seatrium continued to account for the lion’s share of trading volume, with 1.2 billion shares traded, although the stock ended flat at 7.9 cents.
Glove maker Top Glove rose 8.9 per cent to 24.5 cents, after reporting a 69 per cent year-on-year lower loss of RM51.2 million (S$14.5 million) for the second quarter due to cost-cutting.
Wilmar International fell 0.3 per cent to $3.40 after announcing that its wholly owned Wilmar Pakistan unit intends to acquire up to 277.1 million shares of Pakistan-listed Unity Foods through a public offer.
Wilmar Pakistan has a total effective holding of 28.97 per cent in Unity Foods.
The banks ended mixed: UOB shed 0.3 per cent to $28.91; DBS Bank slipped 0.1 per cent to $34.94; but OCBC Bank added 0.4 per cent to $13.42. THE BUSINESS TIMES
