Bulls And Bears

STI ends flat in muted trading session

Lack of leads due to uncertainty over pandemic and earnings releases

Investors had few leads to go on yesterday with more uncertainty over the pandemic and the upcoming corporate reporting season.

The sense of uncertainty underpinned a muted trading performance, with the Straits Times Index (STI) closing the day barely changed at 2,616.30, down 0.08 per cent or 2.18 points.

Losers trumped gainers 238 to 213 with 1.44 billion shares worth $982.6 million changing hands.

Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley had expected Asia's trading session to be "characterised by investors taking some risk off the table, with a lack of data concentrating attention on Covid-19 risks".

The STI's effort was in line with regional benchmarks, which posted relatively subdued numbers.

IG market strategist Pan Jingyi said: "Asia markets are looking to a muted start to the week, caught between growing Covid-19 cases around the globe while looking to the series of earnings releases this week."

The top two STI constituent performers were Ascendas Reit, up 1.2 per cent to $3.33, and Wilmar International, ahead also by 1.2 per cent to $4.35.

The two counters were also among the five STI constituents with consistent momentum in recent years, said the Singapore Exchange (SGX) yesterday.

The other three counters were Venture Corporation, ahead 0.8 per cent, Mapletree Industrial Trust, 0.3 per cent higher, and Mapletree Logistics Trust, which closed the day flat.

These five counters averaged 3 per cent returns for the first nine trading sessions this month, and 11 per cent average total returns so far this year, the SGX noted.

At the bottom of the STI table was Dairy Farm International, which ended at US$4.45, down 2.6 per cent.

Healthcare and pharmaceutical plays registered heavy trading with Medtecs International and Hyphens Pharma International leading the way. Medtecs added 17.6 per cent to 73.5 cents on trade of 93.4 million, while Hyphens Pharma was up 48.8 per cent at 62.5 cents, with 66.2 million shares changing hands.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong stocks fell but recouped much of their losses, helped by robust gains on the mainland. The Hang Seng closed down 0.12 per cent. Shanghai shares closed 3.11 per cent higher after regulators moved to bolster the market.

Japan's Nikkei closed 0.09 per cent higher while South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.14 per cent.

• With additional information from Reuters

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 21, 2020, with the headline STI ends flat in muted trading session. Subscribe