Gains among real estate investment trusts (Reits) and business trusts helped offset worries over escalating United States-China tensions to send the local market into the black yesterday.
The Straits Times Index (STI) gained 17.82 points or 0.7 per cent on the brighter mood to close at 2,612.35, with gainers outpacing losers 271 to 170 on trade of 1.38 billion shares worth $1.12 billion.
AxiCorp chief market strategist Stephen Innes noted: "The impact of virus headlines is receding for stock markets, while price action suggests little care is given about the rising US-China tensions."
Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said that barring severe geopolitical escalation between the US and China, or poor US jobless claims data, "the underlying buy-everything-globally recovery trade looks set to remain on course for the rest of the week".
The STI's top performer was Mapletree Logistics Trust, which advanced 4.9 per cent to $2.13, while its stablemate Mapletree Industrial Trust was not far behind, with a gain of 4.4 per cent to $3.10.
Ascendas Reit was also among the top-performing counters, putting on 2.7 per cent to $3.43.
Genting Singapore was at the bottom of the table, slipping 2 per cent to 75.5 cents. It was the most actively traded stock, with over 38 million shares changing hands.
Other active counters outside the index included Asian Healthcare Specialists, which surged 38.4 per cent to 24 cents on the back of news that it had entered into a partnership with Temasek's Heliconia unit to pursue healthcare investments in South-east Asia. Around 19.5 million shares changed hands.
Elsewhere, the Hong Kong market ended 0.8 per cent higher as investors shrugged off fears of US-China tensions to focus on its buoyant tech stock sector. Shares in Shanghai fell 0.2 per cent and snapped a four-day winning streak, after the abrupt closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston. The secondary Shenzhen bourse was flat.
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.56 per cent on news that the country had plunged into recession in the second quarter, its worse performance in more than two decades, as the pandemic battered exports and curbs paralysed factory output.
Australian shares rose 0.3 per cent to build on Wednesday's 1.3 per cent gain after gas giant Santos reported a record 18.6 per cent rise in quarterly production.
Financial markets in Japan were closed for a public holiday.
- With additional information from Reuters.
