Singapore shares end Tuesday flat as investors move with caution

SINGAPORE - Local shares ended largely unchanged on Tuesday as traders approached capital markets with caution mainly over inflation and interest rates, and ahead of the corporate earnings season.

The benchmark Straits Times Index ended the trading day with a dip of 0.17 point, or 0.01 per cent, to close at 3,254.26.

Daily turnover came in at 1.1 billion securities worth a collective $812.9 million.

Advancers narrowly beat out decliners 285 to 273.

Mr Olivier d’Assier, Qontigo’s head of applied research for the Asia-Pacific, said that market rallies globally, with the exception of Japan, appear to be “out of sync with a weakening sentiment and may not be sustainable”.

“There are a lot of risk-averse investors waiting on the sidelines for a clear sign that it is safe to jump back into equities,” he said.

“For now, without further clarity on the above, the base-case scenario for the second half of 2023 is a mirror of the first half’s performance, simply because markets hate giving even the appearance that they are being blatantly anti-symmetric.”

Thinly traded special-purpose acquisition company Novo Tellus was the top gainer on the local bourse, rising 3.7 per cent to close at $4.71.

iFast Corp, which is set to announce its financial results for the first half of the year next Tuesday after the market closes, also made significant gains.

The counter rose 1.7 per cent to $4.83.

Venture Corp was among the top decliners for the day, shedding 0.9 per cent to $14.91.

Beng Kuang Marine was one of the most heavily traded counters by volume on Tuesday, with about 22.4 million shares traded.

The watch-listed counter rose 15.8 per cent to close the day at 8.8 cents.

Other heavily traded stocks for the day included Seatrium, Marco Polo Marine and Parkson Retail.

THE BUSINESS TIMES