Singapore shares book gains amid lift across Asian markets

Local stocks followed their regional peers north yesterday as traders shrugged off worries over inflation and any looming monetary tightening from the United States Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Straits Times Index rose 0.4 per cent or 11.97 points to close at 3,342.22, marking the first day of gains this week.

The 299 gainers outstripped the 179 losers while 1.96 billion shares worth $1.1 billion changed hands.

Excluding China indices, Asian stock markets generally ended the day on a positive note despite overnight falls on Wall Street.

The Nikkei in Tokyo rose 1.9 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3 per cent, Australian shares added 0.3 per cent as investors chased energy stocks, and the Kospi in Seoul gained 1.9 per cent, although Malaysian shares closed up just 0.05 points.

Although markets closed higher across the board, Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley warned that the overall situation for stock markets "just isn't that simple".

"The environment for equities remains challenging," he said, citing the war between Russia and Ukraine, China's Covid-zero policy and the impending US earnings season as factors for investors to note.

On the local bourse, Jardine Cycle and Carriage was the top gainer, adding 1.4 per cent to $25.48.

DBS Bank was also among the top advancers, rising 1 per cent to $33.58. OCBC Bank also rose, but at a more muted 0.4 per cent to $12.06. UOB was the biggest decliner, down 0.6 per cent to $30.91.

Tech plays Nanofilm and AEM were also among the top decliners. Nanofilm fell 1.4 per cent to $2.81 and AEM shed 0.6 per cent to $4.79.

Sembcorp Marine was the most heavily traded counter for the third day in a row. The stock's volume hit 434.4 million shares with the price up 6.4 per cent to 12 cents.

Other actively traded counters were HS Optimus and Golden Agri-Resources and oil plays like Rex International and RH Petrogas.