Singapore shares rise on better economic data, STI up 0.6%

SINGAPORE shares ended in positive territory on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street's overnight gains on the back of better-than-expected economic data.

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended the day at 2,589.91 points, up 15.81 points or 0.6 per cent.

Advancers outpaced decliners 236 to 193, as 2.34 billion shares worth S$1.6 billion changed hands.

The boost in investor sentiment was in part due to China's June purchasing managers index (PMI) data, which beat forecasts. The PMI rose to a three-month-high of 50.9 in June from 50.6 in May.

Stephen Innes, Axicorp's chief global market strategist, said: "The better-than-expected China PMI lends further weight to the argument that a global cyclical recovery is well underway, which should boost global stock market sentiment."

He added that last week's worries about second wave of coronavirus infections seem to be overshadowed by the "robust reopening narrative".

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The top-performing STI counter for the day was the Singapore Exchange (SGX), which rose S$0.28 or 3.5 per cent to S$8.34. RHB Securities had on Tuesday maintained its "buy" call on SGX, with an unchanged target price of S$9.20. The research house is bullish on SGX's move to acquire the remaining 80 per cent of cloud-based FX trading platform BidFX for about US$128 million in cash.

At the bottom of the table was Sembcorp Industries, which fell S$0.07 or 3.8 per cent to S$1.75.

Singtel remained among the most heavily traded counters from the start of trading, edging up S$0.01 or 0.4 per cent to S$2.46 with over 35 million shares changing hands. 

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, benchmark indices reversed yesterday's losses to end the day higher.