S'pore stocks hold steady despite weakness across Asian markets

The Straits Times Index (STI) closed largely flat yesterday, despite weakness across key Asian markets ahead of meetings by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks. Singapore's benchmark index edged up 0.04 per cent or 1.14 points to 3,121.09 points,

In the wider Singapore market, losers outnumbered gainers 268 to 176 with 1.15 billion shares worth $819.5 million changing hands.

Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.7 per cent lower, South Korea's Kospi Index ended down 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI shed 0.9 per cent.

However, analysts warned that the outlook for Singapore is still not rosy, amid the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant that has dented risk appetite globally.

"Despite some upside moves from the STI at the start of the month, the latest Singapore Exchange fund-flow data continues to reveal overall net outflows from institutional investors for the third straight week," said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong. "This suggests the ongoing paring of positions from financial institutions, and may bring longer-term upside into question for now."

The top performer in Singapore's blue-chip index was CapitaLand Investment, which gained 1.5 per cent to close at $3.45.

At the other end, Dairy Farm International Holdings fell 2 per cent to US$2.89.

The most heavily traded counter among the index constituents was Singtel, which closed flat at $2.42 with 22.3 million shares traded.

In the wider market, digital security firm Disa Limited was the most heavily traded counter for the second straight day this week, with 125.2 million shares traded, closing 20 per cent lower at $0.004.

The trio of local lenders closed mostly higher. UOB gained 0.3 per cent or $0.09 to $26.64, and OCBC Bank edged up 0.2 per cent or $0.02 to $11.32, while DBS Bank closed flat at $31.84.