STI rises 0.3% after China unveils property stimulus

SINGAPORE – News of

sweeping measures to rescue the flailing Chinese property market

energised local investors mid-afternoon on May 17 and sent the bourse into positive territory.

The late surge allowed the Straits Times Index (STI) to reclaim lost ground and add 0.3 per cent, or 8.49 points, to 3,313.48 and end the week 0.7 per cent ahead.

Gainers beat losers 333 to 248 across the broader market, with 1.2 billion securities worth $1.1 billion traded. The STI had opened higher but went south before China announced drastic measures to prop up its beleaguered property market.

Beijing removed the floor on mortgage rates and encouraged local governments to acquire homes to convert into affordable housing.

Key gauges in mainland China and Hong Kong rose about 1 per cent amid a mixed regional showing.

There was scant impetus from Wall Street overnight, with shares retreating a little from the record-breaking heroics on May 16, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly crossed the 40,000 level for the first time. It has surged almost 40 per cent from its low in September 2022 and more than doubled since the spring of 2020, when the pandemic was at its height.

American investors eased off overnight, with the Dow down 0.1 per cent, while the S&P 500 index dipped 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq was off 0.3 per cent.

Singapore’s index stocks were almost evenly split between winners and losers, but the scale was tipped by gains for the three banks, which make up over 40 per cent of the index weighting.

DBS Bank closed up 0.42 per cent at $35.70, OCBC Bank rose 1 per cent to $14.44, and UOB ended 0.5 per cent higher at $30.27.

Seatrium fell 2.5 per cent to $1.57, making it the worst STI performer.

Marco Polo Marine topped the active chart with 41 million shares transacted. The counter fell 4.2 per cent to 6.8 cents.

THE BUSINESS TIMES