Singapore stocks climb on overnight Wall Street rally; STI up 0.7%

SINGAPORE – A buoyant session on Wall Street overnight gave local investors the signal to push shares higher on June 27 and end the week on a positive note.

Robust trade of 1.8 billion securities worth $1.4 billion propelled the Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.7 per cent or 27.74 points to 3,966.2, with gainers outstripping losers 309 to 202.

The Wall Street rally came as weaker-than-projected economic data coincided with news that President Donald Trump

will announce a new US Federal Reserve chairperson earlier than expected

, noted Interactive Brokers senior economist Jose Torres.

“The one-two punch of softer activity figures and the new leader of the central bank being named in September or October is bolstering rate cut wagers and sending the yield curve south,” he said.

The optimism bolstered tech and finance shares and sent the S&P 500, Dow Industrials and Nasdaq up around 1 per cent, but it failed to inspire all regional markets.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.4 per cent and Malaysian stocks rose 0.6 per cent. But the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.2 per cent, the ASX 200 in Sydney declined 0.4 per cent and Seoul’s Kospi was down 0.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, software services provider Info-Tech Systems launched its initial public offering (IPO) of 24,856,000 shares at 87 cents apiece on June 27, marking the first Singapore mainboard listing in almost two years.

Japanese telco Nippon Telegraph and Telephone lodged an IPO prospectus to spin off some of its data centres into a Singapore-listed real estate investment trust that would likely be the largest S-Reit listing in a decade.

Hongkong Land was the STI’s top gainer, rising 3.4 per cent to US$5.84, while Sembcorp Industries was the biggest decliner, down 1 per cent to $6.83.

The local banks ended higher: DBS gained 1 per cent to $44.86; OCBC rose 0.7 per cent to $16.35; and UOB added 0.4 per cent at $36.

THE BUSINESS TIMES