STI up 0.4% on improved market sentiment after US-China talks
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The Straits Times Index climbed 0.4 per cent or 14.48 points to 3,275.28.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Yong Jun Yuan
SINGAPORE - Local stocks clocked gains on Tuesday as market sentiment appeared to improve after talks between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
The Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.4 per cent, or 14.48 points, to 3,275.28, while across the broader market, gainers beat losers 335 to 261 after 1.89 billion securities worth $1.45 billion changed hands.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes noted that market sentiment could have been lifted by Mr Biden’s reassurance that there “need not be a new Cold War” between the United States and China.
“Though the US and China still hold divergent views regarding Taiwan, human rights and trade policies, the meeting delivered some warm signals of the US-China relation, as the White House said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel to China for a visit, tentatively planned for early next year,” he said.
Regional markets were also up on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.2 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 4.1 per cent.
On the STI, DFI Retail Group was the strongest performer, gaining 2 per cent, or five US cents, to close at US$2.50.
Sembcorp Industries was at the bottom of the table, losing 3 per cent, or nine cents, to end at $2.93.
The trio of local banks were in the black, after DBS and OCBC both raised fixed home loan rates to up to 4.3 per cent.
DBS gained 0.9 per cent, or 32 cents, to close at $35.18, while OCBC rose 1.2 per cent, or 15 cents, to close at $12.47, and UOB gained 0.2 per cent, or 5 cents, to close at $30. THE BUSINESS TIMES
