Singapore’s blue-chip gauge edges down 0.2% amid muted trading

SINGAPORE – Local investors had the Boxing Day blues on Dec 26 and failed to lift the market out of its holiday doldrums.

It was always destined to be a lacklustre day, given the absence of leads from Wall Street, which was closed for Christmas, and regional bourses that remained shut.

The hit to shares was a mild one, however, with the Straits Times Index (STI) down just 8.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3,761.45.

Gainers led losers 216 to 144 across the broader market but trading volumes were anaemic to say the least, with only 616.3 million shares worth $420.9 million changing hands.

Seatrium led the STI counters, rising 4.1 per cent to $2.04, after announcing on Dec 24 that it had won a contract for extensive work on a deepwater new-build production unit for a subsidiary of energy giant BP.

Envictus International, a Malaysian food and beverage group, was the most actively traded, with 38.8 million shares transacted. While the stock closed down 2.9 per cent to 33.5 cents, it has risen 15.5 per cent in the year to date.

There was a change of substantial shareholding in the mainboard-listed group reported on Dec 23. Singaporean “popiah king” Sam Goi and his private firm Tee Yih Jia Food Manufacturing divested via off-market transactions their total stake of nearly 30 per cent.

Some stakes were also acquired, including by substantial shareholder and executive chairman Jaya JB Tan, who lifted his holding from 24.23 per cent to 27.42 per cent, including deemed interest.

Trading volumes are expected to stay light here and elsewhere as the year draws to a close, with many investors now focused on the next move on interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.

The smart money is suggesting there will be no cut in January but one in February as the Fed sticks to its softly-softly approach amid signs the inflation dragon has yet to be slayed.

THE BUSINESS TIMES