STI inches up, tracking Wall Street optimism on peace talks

Singapore stocks inched up yesterday, led by optimism on Wall Street over peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Some other regional markets also saw uplifts, buoyed further by a fall in oil prices.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.06 per cent to close at 3,433.9.

A total of 1.72 billion shares worth $1.4 billion were traded, with gainers outpacing losers 254 to 202.

However, all three local banks finished the day in the red, with UOB down 0.68 per cent to $32.16, DBS Bank losing 0.53 per cent to $35.97, and OCBC Bank closing 0.16 per cent lower at $12.39.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.1 per cent, South Korea's benchmark Kospi was up 0.42 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied 1.12 per cent.

But mainland Chinese markets were affected by the coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.33 per cent and the Shenzhen Composite Index losing 0.57 per cent.

In South-east Asia, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 0.91 per cent and the Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.54 per cent.

Dairy Farm International was the top gainer on the STI, climbing 5.7 per cent to close at US$2.78, clawing back some losses from the recent weeks.

The counter had suffered a slew of downgrades earlier this month amid weaker-than-expected performance across the group's segments.

At the bottom of the table was inflight caterer and ground handler SATS, which fell 0.91 per cent to finish at $4.34.

Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) was the most actively traded counter on the index, with 41.5 million units worth $93.4 million changing hands.

It ended trading at $2.24, up 0.45 per cent.

CICT had announced last week that it would acquire a Grade-A office building at 79 Robinson Road for $1.3 billion, in a move generally viewed positively by analysts.