Singapore stocks end higher amid mixed regional trading; STI up 0.5%
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The benchmark Straits Times Index gained 0.5 per cent to finish at 4,655.38.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Ranamita Chakraborty
SINGAPORE - Local stocks closed higher on Dec 30 as regional markets posted mixed results, with investors scaling back activity ahead of the New Year holiday.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.5 per cent to finish at 4,655.38.
Meanwhile, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index rose 0.01 per cent to 1,451.49.
Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 299 to 203, after 1.4 billion securities worth $1.1 billion changed hands.
Hong Kong-based conglomerate Jardine Matheson led the gainers on the STI, rising 2.5 per cent to end at US$68.87.
Supermarket and retail store operator DFI Retail Group was the index’s biggest decliner, falling 1 per cent to close at US$3.95.
The local banks ended higher.
Elsewhere in the region, key indexes were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.9 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI climbed 0.2 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.4 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2 per cent.
On Wall Street, the major indexes closed lower on Dec 29, starting the final week of the year on softer footing. The pullback came as heavyweight technology stocks retreated from last week’s rally, which had propelled the S&P 500 to record highs.
Mr Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, noted that stocks are struggling to sustain the enthusiasm seen last week.
“The three-year run in stocks has been terrific, and annual appreciation rates of nearly 20 per cent would certainly be something that the investing community could get used to,” he said.
“Indeed, 2023 and 2024 both delivered returns of over 23 per cent, and after a stellar 2025, participants are geared up for another strong year in 2026.”
However, he cautioned that there is “good reason to believe that performance could be more tempered going forward, as valuation expansion has its limits and the set-up is conducive to a period of muted gains or a so-called flat year, allowing Wall Street to digest the advances of preceding periods”. THE BUSINESS TIMES
