Singapore stocks extend gains, tracking regional markets; STI up 0.2%

SINGAPORE - It was another day of modest gains for local shares on Thursday as investors across the region regained their taste for buying after a fragile few days.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rode the wavelet of optimism to rise 6.54 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3,180.72. A total of 1.6 billion securities worth $939.1 million changed hands across the broader market where gainers outnumbered losers 327 to 200.

Local and regional gains mirrored

the advances on Wall Street overnight

, where technology and property stocks drove the S&P 500 up 1.1 per cent, its best day for two months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 per cent while the Nasdaq shot up 1.6 per cent and is now 31 per cent ahead this year.

Regional investors took the hint. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 2.1 per cent, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.9 per cent, the Kospi in Seoul climbed 1.3 per cent and Australian shares rose 0.5 per cent. Malaysian stocks, however, managed only a 0.3 per cent lift.

The spotlight here went on Singtel, which ended the day up 0.9 per cent at $2.35. Phillip Securities upgraded the telco to a “buy” in view of the company’s attractive valuations amid recent price weakness.

Seatrium once again claimed the top spot on the STI, jumping 5.2 per cent to 14.3 cents, while Thai Beverage came in at the bottom, falling 1.7 per cent to 57.5 cents.

CapitaLand Investment was another STI winner, gaining 2 per cent to $3.13.

Banks had a mixed day. UOB was the STI’s second-biggest loser, falling 0.9 per cent to $27.83. In contrast, OCBC Bank rose 0.3 per cent to $12.36, and DBS Group Holdings edged up 0.03 per cent to $32.81.

Meanwhile, purchasing managers’ indexes performed poorly in the United States and Europe, which raised recession fears but put the notion of more interest rate rises a bit further off the table.

THE BUSINESS TIMES