STI gains 0.62% on vaccine cheer, rosy global outlook, US stimulus hopes

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - A triple shot of good news - vaccine cheer, a perkier global economy and progress on a United States stimulus deal - gave local shares a booston Wednesday.

Investors, who were already primed to buy after overnight gains on Wall Street, sent the Straits Times Index (STI) up 17.44 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 2,843.07.

Around 1.56 billion shares worth $1.18 billion changed hands with gainers outpacing losers 241 to 210.

IG senior market strategist Pan Jingyi noted: "The broad narrative remains one of strong recovery in the long term, but with short-term risks on the back of the elevated Covid-19 cases."

There was encouraging progress on the virus front after Britain administered early vaccine doses and signs emerged that the US could approve vaccines for emergency use.

The lenders - DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank and OCBC Bank - and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) led the gains on the local bourse.

Geo Energy Resources closed unchanged at a 52-week high of 17.7 cents. Moody's Investors Service had upgraded the firm's credit ratings on Tuesday, on the absence of near-term financing risk. Last week, the coal miner said its Indonesian mines had met the reserves conditions to prevent a put option from being triggered in April for its US$59.2 million (S$79.1 million) of 8 per cent senior notes.

CICT shares rose nearly 2 per cent to $2.08 with 24 million units traded. DBS raised its target price from $2.40 to $2.50, noting that the trust is "too big to ignore" at attractive valuations, following the merger of CapitaLand Mall Trust and CapitaLand Commercial Trust.

Big gains were logged across the region, except for China, with South Korea's Kospi the standout with a gain of more than 2 per cent.