Singapore shares finish Tuesday higher tracking Wall Street advances, STI up 0.3%

THE Singapore stock market felt positive knock-on effects as investor sentiment in the US rose after a coronavirus stimulus bill was passed, which pushed all three Wall Street indices to record highs on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent to 30,403.97; the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7 per cent to 12,899.42, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.9 per cent to 3,735.36.

On the local bourse, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or eight points to finish the day at 2,848.14. On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 265 to 175, after 1.56 billion securities worth some S$630 million changed hands.

Said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley: "The buy everything recovery trade was back in evidence in Asia, with the US dollar easing, and precious metals and energy rallying."

He added that a bare data calendar is likely to leave markets "at the mercy of headline-driven reactions" during a very illiquid period of the year.

Jardine Strategic Holdings and Jardine Matheson Holdings were the top advancers for the day. The former gained 2.5 per cent or US$0.61 to US$25.41, while the latter added 0.6 per cent or US$0.35 to finish the day at US$55.70.

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On the other end of the spectrum, ABR Holdings - which owns a number of food and beverage brands - was the top decliner. The stock tumbled 19.1 per cent or S$0.13 to S$0.55.

Glove makers were also among the biggest decliners for the second consecutive day. Top Glove fell 3.9 per cent or S$0.08 to S$1.99; Riverstone shed 1.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.09, while UG Healthcare fell 3.4 per cent or S$0.02 to 57.5 Singapore cents.

Medical apparel maker Medtecs International, too, fell 2.5 per cent or 2.5 Singapore cents to 99.5 Singapore cents.

Oanda's Mr Halley noted that glove makers had led declines on the Kuala Lumpur stock market earlier in the day as well. "It may well be that investors are starting to look at a post-vaccine future and are lightening up on a sector that was a clear Covid-19 winner," he noted.

Among the 30 constituent counters, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding emerged the biggest loser after coming out tops on Monday. The stock closed at 93.5 Singapore cents, down 1.1 per cent or one Singapore cent. It was the most heavily traded STI stock for the second day in a row, with some 14.9 million shares traded over the course of the day.

The trio of lenders ended the day mixed. DBS rose 0.3 per cent or S$0.07 to S$25.20 while UOB fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.04 to S$22.64. OCBC, meanwhile, held steady at S$10.07.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets ended the day mixed. The Nikkei 225 added 2.7 per cent; the Hang Seng Index gained 1 per cent, and the Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent. On the other hand, the KLCI lost 0.6 per cent, while the SSE Composite Index fell 0.5 per cent.