Banks catapult STI to 6-year high as Singapore stocks extend gains

SINGAPORE – Investors anticipating a bumper results season helped drive the Straits Times Index (STI) to a six-year high on July 10.

The gauge surged 33.84 points or 1 per cent to 3,459.93 points, with gainers beating losers 324 to 231 on trade of 1.1 billion securities worth $1.3 billion.

Mr Glenn Thum, research analyst at Phillip Securities, said the bourse’s performance was broad-based and the gains were not in any particular sector, noting: “This increase might be due to expectations of good results ahead of the earnings release for all the companies.”

He added that higher-for-longer rates have pushed up local bank share prices, with those lenders making up about 45 per cent of the STI.

DBS Bank charged ahead of its peers and jumped 2 per cent to $38.15, just under its 52-week high of $38.17. UOB climbed 0.7 per cent to $33.10, while OCBC Bank hit an all-time high of $15.23 after rising 0.5 per cent.

These counters aside, 20 constituents posted gains, led by Thai Beverage’s 3.4 per cent increase to 46 cents.

STI’s climb tracked the record-breaking showing by two of the three major US indexes as they hit fresh records on July 9, after US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell reported “modest” progress in countering inflation ahead of key consumer price index data.

Financial firms were behind the S&P 500’s fresh record overnight, a rare event given its technology shares that have been leading the index higher.

Goldman Sachs and Intercontinental Exchange ended at all-time highs, while another six banks and finance companies closed at their highest price in at least a year. JPMorgan, Citigroup and Bank of America are among the big firms scheduled to disclose earnings on July 12.

The S&P 500 gained less than 0.1 per cent to set its 36th new record in 2024, while the Nasdaq added 0.1 per cent, also a new all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.1 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES