STI and most regional indexes rise on back of Wall Street rally

Regional markets headed north yesterday on the back of a Wall Street rally that racked up its third straight session amid diminishing Omicron variant fears.

Local investors were in the swing of things and sent the Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.41 per cent, or 12.68 points, to 3,142.45. On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 280 to 156 on trade of 1.3 billion shares worth $867.2 million.

Positive preliminary laboratory studies from vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech continue to downplay the economic risks of the virus, said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.

The focus may therefore shift towards the next market risk in line - the accelerated tapering of asset purchases from the United States Federal Reserve.

The STI's best-performing stock was Jardine Matheson Holdings, which ended the day up 3.1 per cent at US$55.80. The company said on Wednesday night that it plans to double the size of its share-buyback scheme to US$500 million (S$682.1 million). It launched a programme in September to repurchase up to US$250 million of shares by June 30 next year.

Only three of the 30 STI constituents ended the day in the red. The biggest loser was Dairy Farm International, which fell 1 per cent to US$3.01.

DBS and OCBC banks were also among the bottom three. DBS shed 0.1 per cent to $31.95 and OCBC dipped 0.4 per cent to $11.34, while UOB was up 0.2 per cent to $26.87.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust was the most active counter on the index with 23.3 million shares changing hands, but the stock ended the day flat at $2.04.

Except for the Nikkei 225, which fell 0.47 per cent, most key benchmark indexes in the region ended the day higher. The Hang Seng Index was up 1.08 per cent, the Kospi gained 0.93 per cent, the Kuala Lumpur Composite rose 0.52 per cent and the Jakarta Composite ended 0.61 per cent higher.