Investors had few leads from Wall Street to latch on to yesterday while a level of wariness lingers around Russia's announcement of a Covid-19 vaccine.
As subdued as the market was, the Straits Times Index (STI) managed to inch up 19.05 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 2,563.20 although losers slightly outstripped gainers 220 to 215. There were 1.63 billion shares worth $1.63 billion traded.
The STI's modest gain was something of a surprise given the welter of bad news around to sour moods.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific was the latest airline to report how the pandemic has battered its business, with news that it lost HK$9.9 billion (S$1.8 billion) in the first half.
Meanwhile, Britain's economy contracted by a record 20.4 per cent in the second quarter while New Zealand re-entered partial lockdown with the most severe measures in Auckland, the country's economic engine.
Local investors still found some rays of light.
Agri-business group Wilmar International was among the better performing STI constituents with a 2.1 per cent increase to $4.79 after delivering a bumper half-year result.
RHB Securities Singapore analyst Juliana Cai maintained her "buy" recommendation with a target price of $5.45, noting that the results were better than expected.
Top Glove topped the decliners chart, down 9.3 per cent to $8.19. The glove maker's stock price went into reverse gear on Tuesday and the descent continued yesterday.
The selling pressure came after Top Glove said on Monday that it expects to pay about RM53 million (S$17.3 million) in remediation fees to migrant workers it employed before it implemented a new standard for ethical recruitment last year.
News of the Russian vaccine also hit glove makers.
The most active was Medtecs International, up 44.6 per cent to $1.41 on trade of 150.5 million after posting a half-year net profit that was more than 100-fold higher than last year.
Asian markets largely performed better, despite Wall Street ending in the red overnight.
South Korean shares rose for the eighth straight session to their highest close since June 12, 2018. The Hang Seng Index added 1.42 per cent to an almost three-week high and the Nikkei added 0.41 per cent.
On the deficit side, Shanghai dipped 0.63 per cent and Australia fell 0.11 per cent.
