Singapore shares end Friday higher as regional markets trade mixed

SINGAPORE – Local shares ended in the black on the last trading day of the week amid a mixed showing by regional bourses.

Investors may have had Wall Street’s positive session overnight in mind as they pushed the Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.4 per cent, or 11.89 points, to 3,159.53 on Jan 26. In the wider market, gainers outnumbered losers 297 to 279 on robust trade of 1.5 billion shares worth $1.2 billion.

Casino operator Genting Singapore led the index gainers, rising 3.6 per cent to $1.01. The counter rose as strong growth in casino revenue by rival Marina Bay Sands, which is run by parent company Las Vegas Sands, boosted investor sentiment in the gaming sector.

The local banks were also among the gainers, with DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and UOB rising between 0.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent.

With the banks due to report fourth-quarter earnings in the coming weeks, IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong said that while DBS continued to see an expansion in its net margin interests in the third quarter, OCBC and UOB did not.

Mr Yeap attributed the divergence to the banks’ abilities to balance loan repricing and funding costs. He added that Refinitiv estimates are looking for contractions in net interest income from UOB and OCBC this time.

“While year-on-year growth in net interest income for the banks has already been slowing for three straight quarters due to a higher base effect from last year, this may mark the first time we see a contraction,” he said.

Technology firm Venture Corp was at the bottom of STI, falling 1.9 per cent to $13.48. Seatrium was again the most actively traded, with 128.1 million shares changing hands. The counter was down 1 per cent to 10.4 cents.

Elsewhere, key indexes in Shanghai, South Korea and Malaysia rose, but the Nikkei 225 in Japan and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell. The Australian bourse was closed for a public holiday.

THE BUSINESS TIMES