Singapore shares climb on improved sentiment; STI gains 0.2%

SINGAPORE – Investors here latched on to optimistic news from two fronts to help send local stocks a touch higher on May 16.

One boost came from announcements that the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange Regulation are

seeking feedback on proposed changes to the Singapore bourse

that might inject more spark into the market.

Wall Street helped as well, with the S&P 500 rising 0.4 per cent overnight for the fourth straight day on the back of investors increasingly hopeful that tariff tensions will ease, following the US and China agreeing to a 90-day truce in their trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6 per cent but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.2 per cent.

It was all enough for local investors to get behind the bourse and nudge the Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.2 per cent or 5.93 points to 3,897.87. Gainers trounced losers 307 to 203 across the broader market on trade of one billion securities worth $1.1 billion.

The STI’s biggest winner was CapitaLand Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, which added 1.5 per cent to $2.63, while conglomerate Jardine Matheson led the losers, falling 1.5 per cent to US$46.74.

STI constituent Singtel gained 1.3 per cent to $3.80 after the group announced it had

sold a 1.2 per cent stake in India’s Bharti Airtel

for $2 billion.

The local banks were mixed. DBS Bank, which traded ex-dividend, fell 1.1 per cent to $44.60, UOB edged up 0.03 per cent to $35.50 while OCBC Bank gained 0.5 per cent to $16.32.

Regional indexes were also mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2 per cent, Malaysian shares slid 0.1 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed flat.

The ASX 200 in Australia had another strong week and signed off with a gain of 0.6 per cent, its eighth positive session in a row, ahead of an expected interest rate cut next week.

THE BUSINESS TIMES