Bulls And Bears
STI up 0.4% as Asia tracks Wall Street gains on Fed optimism
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Wong Pei Ting
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Sembcorp Industries biggest winner, climbing 2.7% to $3.39
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Gainers trump losers 321 to 187 in the broader market
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Japan, South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong indexes all up
Local investors cheered by modest gains on Wall Street overnight sent shares higher yesterday - a trend reflected across the region.
American traders sparked the rebound after a three-day losing streak thanks to optimistic anticipation of a speech by United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole today.
The outcome here was a rise of 0.4 per cent or 14 points to leave the Straits Times Index (STI) at 3,247.8. Gainers trumped losers 321 to 187 in the broader market, with 1.5 billion shares worth $914.5 million changing hands. Regional markets rose as well. Indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia rose by between 0.6 and 1.2 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 3.6 per cent thanks to a tech stock rally after trading was halted due to a typhoon warning.
IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said Wall Street's rebound reinforces the stance that the recent push-back against a dovish pivot from Fed members has been largely priced in.
He had expected some muted moves in the Asia session as market participants looked towards the Jackson Hole Symposium for more clues on the Fed's policy outlook.
The biggest loser among STI constituents was Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, which fell 1.6 per cent to $1.86. Jardine Matheson was close behind, sliding 1.3 per cent to US$51.36.
OCBC snapped a three-day losing streak to rise 0.9 per cent to $12.10. The other banks also gained: UOB put on 0.6 per cent to $27.51 and DBS rose 0.5 per cent to $33.
The session's biggest winner was Sembcorp Industries, which climbed 2.7 per cent to $3.39.
Singtel jumped by almost 2 per cent after the telecoms giant announced its divestment of a 3.3 per cent stake in its India associate, Bharti Airtel. Around 22 million Singtel shares changed hands.
In the broader market, Marco Polo Marine was the most actively traded counter by volume for a second day running. It closed up 5.6 per cent at 3.8 cents after 131.2 million shares worth $4.9 million changed hands.
