STI inches up 0.2% as local investors stay focused on the positive

SINGAPORE – Regional markets ended the day mixed on Aug 28, but local investors were in a more upbeat mood heading into the weekend.

While nothing to write home about, the positive sentiment did manage to lift the Straits Times Index (STI) 0.2 per cent or 8.21 points to 4,253.78.

Losers had the upper hand, however, dispatching gainers 281 to 232 on mediocre trade of 1.2 billion securities worth $1.2 billion.

The STI’s top gainer was Thai Beverage, up 2.2 per cent to 46.5 cents, while ST Engineering led the losers, falling 1.4 per cent to $7.66.

The trio of local banks closed higher. DBS Bank gained 0.3 per cent to $50.33, OCBC Bank added 0.5 per cent to $16.75 and UOB was up 0.6 per cent at $35.30.

Much of the focus was on Wall Street overnight, when tech giant Nvidia posted robust second-quarter numbers and announced a US$60 billion (S$77 billion) stock buyback after markets closed.

While the results were impressive, they fell a little short of expectations, but investors in New York had been anticipating a bumper result and sent indexes up accordingly. The Dow industrials set the pace, adding 0.3 per cent, while the S&P put on 0.24 per cent to rack up yet another record high to leave it 10 per cent ahead for the year so far. The Nasdaq was also up, rising 0.21 per cent.

Investors here and elsewhere will also be eyeing the upcoming gross domestic product update for the US, which will provide signals about the trajectory of interest rates there.

Meanwhile, regional markets closed mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 per cent and the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.3 per cent but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slid 0.8 per cent.

The Australian market was focused on the near-record full-year result from national carrier Qantas, which sent the airline’s stock to new highs and helped the ASX 200 put on 0.2 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES