Bulls And Bears
STI inches up 0.01% to end two-day losing streak
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Rae Wee
- Wall Street gains prompt muted optimism among investors here
- Jardine Cycle & Carriage, SIA top performers on local index
- Kospi, Nikkei rise; virus cases send Chinese markets down
Local investors took heed of Wall Street's overnight gains to send shares a touch higher yesterday and end a two-day losing streak.
The muted optimism sent the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.34 point, or 0.01 per cent, to 2,977.51 with gainers outnumbering losers 279 to 208 on trade of 2.5 billion shares worth $1.55 billion.
Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said Wall Street's rise was "mostly because US yields remained unchanged", adding that "with the White House quiet and a modest data calendar, that has been enough to green-light a rally in Asian equities".
Jardine Cycle & Carriage emerged as the top performer among the STI constituents, gaining 3.26 per cent to $22.80.
It was followed by Singapore Airlines, which rose 2.59 per cent to $4.35.
An SIA spokesman said on Tuesday night that Covid-19 vaccinations for employees would begin yesterday. The carrier is believed to be the first in the world to offer its staff the option to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Thai Beverage, which was the top performer on Tuesday, slumped to the bottom of the index yesterday, losing 3.15 per cent to 77 cents.
Asian markets ended the day mixed. The benchmark Kospi closed 0.71 per cent higher, while the Nikkei 225 Index gained 1.04 per cent.
Chinese markets ended lower as investor sentiment was dampened amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the Chinese mainland.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.27 per cent, while the Hang Seng slipped 0.15 per cent.
The Australian market rallied with a 0.1 per cent gain.
