Singapore stocks inch up 0.03% amid struggle for direction
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The STI inched up 1.02 points to 3,801.83, with gainers outpacing losers 349 to 178 on a relatively robust volume of one billion securities.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Yong Jun Yuan & Michelle Zhu
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SINGAPORE – Local shares struggled for direction on Jan 3 amid another lacklustre day of festive season trading.
The Straits Times Index (STI) inched up 0.03 per cent or 1.02 points to 3,801.83, with gainers outpacing losers 349 to 178 on a relatively robust volume of one billion securities worth $869.7 million.
Seatrium was the STI’s top gainer and the most actively transacted. The rig builder added 5.8 per cent to $2.19 on trade of 60.5 million shares.
Jardine Matheson Holdings led the losers, falling 1.8 per cent to US$40.98.
The local banks were mixed: UOB gained 0.1 per cent to $36.58, while DBS Bank shed 0.8 per cent to $43.62 and OCBC Bank fell 0.4 per cent to $16.57.
Wall Street failed to give local investors much of an incentive to get back into the game, with all three key indexes slipping into the red overnight to continue the downbeat trend seen over the past week.
Tech giants and automakers mainly took the hit as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each dipped 0.2 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.4 per cent.
Markets in the region were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi gained a solid 1.8 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 per cent, but Malaysian shares fell 0.2 per cent.
Australian stocks recorded a solid 0.6 per cent gain amid low volumes, lifted mainly by energy and property sector advances.
Mr Aidan Shevlin, head of international liquidity fund management at JP Morgan Asset Management, noted that moderating prices have allowed Asian central banks to switch their focus from curbing inflation to supporting economic growth through rate cuts.
“Solid economic growth, supported by robust exports, has allowed the traditionally hawkish Monetary Authority of Singapore to maintain a strong currency stance to combat imported inflation,” he added.
“With prices now moderating, risks have become more balanced, opening the possibility of policy easing in the first half of 2025.” THE BUSINESS TIMES
