SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Investors turned defensive on Tuesday (Dec 22) as the deteriorating pandemic sparked more lockdowns and tighter border restrictions across the world.
The wary mood left The Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.67 per cent or 19.2 points at 2,827.32 points on Tuesday, with losers outnumbering gainers 277 to 178 on trade of 1.64 billion shares worth $1.32 billion.
The coronavirus resurgence in countries including Britain and Australia had mixed results on the Singapore market.
Glove-maker counters including Riverstone, Top Glove and UG Healthcare saw prices tick up, with UG Healthcare registering the biggest gain - up 9.65 per cent to 62.5 cents. Riverstone closed 6.25 per cent higher at $1.19 while Top Glove gained 0.92 per cent to $2.20.
In contrast, aviation-related counters such as Singapore Airlines (SIA), ground handler and inflight caterer Sats, and SIA Engineering were hit by the global flare-up.
SIA dropped 3.43 per cent to $4.23, Sats declined 3.19 per cent to $3.94 and SIA Engineering closed $1.94, 3.48 per cent lower.
Also, SIA earlier announced it had used $7.1 billion or about 80 per cent of the $8.8 billion raised in the dilutive rights issue this year, as the national carrier continues to burn through hundreds of millions of dollars a month.
This could lead the carrier to tap the $6.2 billion issuance of additional mandatory convertible bonds.
Sembcorp Marine, with over 161.6 million shares traded, topped the most active tally but fell 2.78 per cent to 14 cents.
Regional markets were mostly down, with Shanghai shares posting the most decline among key indices as it dropped 1.86 per cent. South Korea's Kospi Index was down 1.62 per cent, its biggest decline in two weeks.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.05 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index declined 1.04 per cent, the Hang Seng was 0.71 per cent lower while Malaysian stocks were 0.97 per cent lower.
