Singapore shares rise, with ST Engineering leading gains on STI

SINGAPORE - Stocks in Singapore ended higher on March 3, tracking gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 13.22 points to 3,908.92.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 308 to 257, after 1.96 billion securities worth $1.75 billion changed hands.

ST Engineering led gains on the STI, with the counter up 8.5 per cent or 46 cents at $5.87. The company’s shares are up 26 per cent in the year to date.

Several analysts have raised their target price on ST Engineering, citing the company’s strong growth prospects.

Meanwhile, the theme of leadership surrounded the companies that were the top two losers on the STI on March 3.

Genting Singapore was the top decliner, falling 2.7 per cent or 2 cents to 71 cents.

Shares of the integrated resort operator have fallen since Feb 28, following news that the current patriarch of the family-run business, Mr Lim Kok Thay, will step down as chief executive of Malaysia’s Genting after nearly two decades at the helm.

Also in the red was property developer City Developments (CDL), which lost 2.3 per cent or 12 cents to $5.

Earlier on March 3, the counter fell as much as 6.5 per cent to its lowest since 2009.

It had resumed trading after a three-day halt

, amid news of a father-son tussle for board control at the group that is majority-owned by the Kwek family.

Executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng said in a statement on Feb 26 that

he had filed a court action to deal with an “attempted coup”

by his son and CDL CEO Sherman Kwek, as well as Mr Philip Lee Jee Cheng, Mrs Wong Ai Ai and directors acting with them.

Mr Sherman Kwek subsequently issued a statement on behalf of the majority of CDL’s board, expressing his disappointment at his father’s “extreme actions”.

The conflict moves into Singapore’s Supreme Court on March 4, when a closed-door case conference will be heard.

The three local banks ended mixed on March 3. UOB gained 0.4 per cent to $38.35, OCBC Bank was flat at $17.21, while DBS Bank fell 0.3 per cent to $45.77.

Elsewhere in the region, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 per cent and the Nikkei 225 was up 1.7 per cent, but the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 0.2 per cent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES