Bulls And Bears

STI up 2.4% on lifting of circuit breaker measures

Performance in line with other regional bourses; gains track Wall St, Europe rallies

Singapore shares closed higher yesterday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) advancing 60.77 points, or 2.38 per cent, to 2,611.63.

This comes as the city-state's circuit breaker period ended, with more businesses and activities being progressively allowed. The gains also tracked overnight rallies on Wall Street and Europe.

Gainers outnumbered losers 321 to 136, as two billion shares worth $2.03 billion changed hands.

Mr Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp, said: "Risk assets continue to shrug off political angst while reacting positively to coronavirus lockdowns being eased across the globe."

Among STI constituents, the best performer was Sats, which rose 6 per cent to $2.85. DBS Group Research upgraded the counter on Monday to "hold" from "fully valued" while keeping its target price at $2.64, saying the stock is "on track for long recovery".

At the bottom of STI's table were Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which were the only two STI counters that ended in the red. SGX fell 1.7 per cent to $8.28, while SPH declined 0.8 per cent to $1.31.

ComfortDelGro was the most traded stock among the blue chips, gaining 4.2 per cent to $1.49. The transport giant announced yesterday that it has tied up with ALPS, the supply chain arm of Singapore's public healthcare system, to involve its cabbies in the delivery of essential medicine.

Singapore's banking trio also ended the day higher.

DBS rose 2.8 per cent to $20.21, OCBC Bank advanced 2.8 per cent to $8.89, and United Overseas Bank gained 2.5 per cent to $20.27.

The STI's performance was in line with other benchmarks in the region, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Hong Kong shares rose 1.11 per cent, building on the previous day's more than 3 per cent surge, as the easing of the city's lockdown trumped worries about China-US tensions. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent, and the Shenzhen Composite Index also added 0.2 per cent.

Japan ended 1.2 per cent higher after earlier hitting its highest level since Feb 26. Similarly, South Korea finished 1.1 per cent up, its highest close since Feb 25.

Malaysia gained 1.2 per cent and Indonesia rose 2 per cent.

Observers are keeping tabs on violent protests gripping some of the United States' biggest cities following the killing of a black man by a white police officer, and President Donald Trump's threat to send soldiers onto the streets.

• Additional information from Agence France-Presse

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 03, 2020, with the headline STI up 2.4% on lifting of circuit breaker measures. Subscribe