SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Asian markets clocked gains at mid-day trading close on Christmas Eve, with Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI) rising 0.3 per cent to 2,842.04 points on Thursday (Dec 24).
Senior market strategist at IG, Ms Pan Jingyi, said Asia markets had joined in the rather festive cheer, with prices broadly supported across the region. This was despite uncertainties, like the possibility of the United States' US$900 billion (S$1.2 trillion) relief aid being vetoed by President Donald Trump still lingering into the holiday season.
"The current market sentiment appears to remain little changed, similarly powered by the positive outlook looking into the new year on this holiday-shortened trading day for various regional indices.
"As with the pattern with the local Straits Times Index, this continued range bound action remains the case with investors likely both unwilling to take on fresh risks presently but also not wanting to deviate from the broad trend," Ms Pan said.
The STI was marginally down 0.24 per cent over the four-day trading week, with Christmas Day being a public holiday in Singapore.
Gainers outnumbered losers 173 to 155 on the broader market, which saw 859.8 million securities worth $433.05 million traded.
Property company City Developments, expected to benefit from the gradual economic recovery and divestment of a non-core hotel asset, was trading at $7.98 or up 1.1 per cent at Thursday's closing bell.
Agri-food company Olam International lost 2 per cent at $1.45 on Thursday. It had furnished a profit guidance on Wednesday, pointing to a loss for the second half of 2020 owing to an impairment but expects to post a profit for the full year.
The most heavily-traded counter was penny stock LionGold with a trading volume of 93.1 million, closing flat at 0.3 cent.
Regional markets generally rose. South Korea's Kospi Index was up 1.7 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.54 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.17 per cent higher and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.33 per cent.
In contrast, the Shanghai Composite Index was 0.45 per cent lower and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 0.30 per cent.
