SINGAPORE – War jitters and the usual interest rate concerns found little traction with local investors, who gave shares a solid boost on April 18.
The sunnier sentiment after days of uncertainty pushed the Straits Times Index (STI) up 1.1 per cent or 32.97 points to 3,187.66, with gainers easily trouncing losers 313 to 237 on trade of 1.9 billion shares worth $1.43 billion on the broader market.
The index’s biggest advancer was conglomerate Jardine Cycle & Carriage, up 4.1 per cent, with its stable mates not far behind: Jardine Matheson Holdings shot ahead 3.2 per cent to US$36.90 and DFI Retail Group Holdings added 1.7 per cent to US$1.84.
Genting Singapore was the STI’s fourth-best performer on the day, up 2.2 per cent to 93 cents on growing optimism in the resort sector.
The rise came after United States-listed Las Vegas Sands reported on April 17 that first-quarter operating earnings at Marina Bay Sands (after adjusting for win rates) surged 26 per cent to a record US$520 million (S$707 million).
CGS International analyst Tay Wee Kuang said the results are a “positive sign” for Genting Singapore. “We think Genting Singapore will continue to see positive year-on-year momentum in profitability for the first half of 2024 due to a low base effect.”
The STI’s rebound was broadly mirrored across Asia and came despite another downbeat session on Wall Street overnight that only worsened an April sell-off sparked by lower expectations for interest rate cuts. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent, its fourth straight session of decline, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.1 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.1 per cent.
Regional markets shrugged off those results, with the Nikkei 225 ending the day up 0.3 per cent, Australian shares added 0.5 per cent to snap a five-day losing streak and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.8 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi was the standout performer, up nearly 2 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES
