Singapore stocks rise before festive break; STI up 0.5%

SINGAPORE - Singapore shares rose on Dec 24 before investors took a break for Christmas, with the blue-chip barometer, the Straits Times Index (STI), continuing to be powered by overnight Wall Street gains.

The STI was 0.5 per cent, or 17.22 points, higher at 3,769.55 points by the closing bell on the shorter trading day of Christmas Eve.

National postal service provider Singapore Post climbed 3 per cent, or 1.5 cents, to 51.5 cents, a day after its share price was pummelled following news that it had fired three senior executives, including group chief executive Vincent Phang.

Sembcorp Industries emerged as the best STI performer on Dec 24, with the counter closing 1.7 per cent, or nine cents, higher at $5.44. On Dec 23, the energy and urban development company joined the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index as the sole new entrant from Singapore.

The inclusion was part of S&P Dow Jones Indexes’ annual review of its sustainability indexes, which are grouped by themes such as emerging markets and the Asia-Pacific.

Transport heavyweight ComfortDelGro ended one cent, or 0.7 per cent, lower at $1.44 on Dec 24. It announced before market close it would raise the platform fee for all taxi and private-hire car bookings made through its CDG Zig app to $1 to $1.20, from 70 cents.

Effective from Jan 1, 2025, the move is to defray its operating expenses to support the Ministry of Manpower’s new initiatives for platform workers, including work injury compensation insurance and Central Provident Fund contributions.

Across the broader market, gainers beat decliners 286 to 130 after 534.8 million securities worth $332.5 million were transacted.

Major indexes in the US all rose on Dec 23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES