Singapore shares rise on back of sharp Wall Street gains

Singapore shares rose yesterday, buoyed by sharp gains in Wall Street last Friday as fears eased over aggressive rate increases by central banks, given a string of weak macro data out of the United States and many parts of the world.

The local bourse's key Straits Times Index extended last Friday's gains to finish higher yesterday by 0.83 per cent at 3,137.54.

Key gauges in China and Hong Kong were up 0.88 per cent and 2.35 per cent, respectively. Japan rose 1.43 per cent, Taiwan climbed 1.6 per cent, and South Korea, 1.49 per cent. Australia finished 1.93 per cent higher, and Malaysia's key index relatively underperformed with marginal gains of 0.1 per cent.

IG's market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said: "The question remains on whether this marks another relief rally for a further leg lower. Overall sentiments may stay fragile, largely because the downward trend for equity indexes remains intact, and we have seen previous instances of a single event pertaining to inflation, economic outlook and central banks' policies bringing back market jitters."

On the home front, about 1.3 billion units worth $960.31 million were traded. Advancers outpaced decliners, with 362 counters up and 188 down.

Singtel was one of the day's top 10 actively traded counters, with more than 27 million shares done. The counter rose 0.78 per cent to $2.60. The telco quashed a report in The Australian that it was mulling over listing its Australian subsidiary, Optus. Singtel said it has no plans to list Optus through an initial public offering at the moment.

Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust saw some action as the units advanced 1.48 per cent to $1.37.

Wing Tai Holdings drew coverage by DBS Group Research with a "buy" rating and a target price of $2.05 owing to its attractive valuation and high percentage of inventory sold. The shares of the property and retail player rose 1.14 per cent to $1.78.