STI extends rally upon Trump's return to White House, gains 0.5%

SINGAPORE stocks continued to gain traction on Tuesday, following the trend in world equities as news of US president Donald Trump's return to the White House led to an uplift in investors' confidence.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ended the day up 12.03 points or 0.48 per cent at 2,529.26.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) was the index's top performer for the day, gaining S$0.05 or 1.43 per cent to close at S$3.55.

This followed Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung's statement in Parliament on Tuesday, that the government will "continue to support SIA, CAG (Changi Airport Group) and other companies in the aviation sector as much as we can".

He added that the multi-ministry taskforce will explore "other practical schemes" to welcome travellers from countries with higher infection rates but are "economically important", and that "Singapore has started to reopen its borders".

CapitaLand, on the other hand, was at the bottom of the index, falling S$0.01 or 0.36 per cent to close at S$2.76.

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Dairy Farm International and Jardine Cycle & Carriage were the other two STI constituents whose shares closed down on Tuesday, declining 0.25 per cent and 0.22 per cent respectively.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 247 to 178 for the day, with 967.47 million securities worth S$1 billion changing hands.

Across the region, Asian markets also took positively to the news of Mr Trump's recovery.

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.52 per cent or 121.59 points to 23,433.73; the Kospi climbed 7.90 points or 0.34 per cent to 2,365.90 - its highest close in two weeks. The Hang Seng Index closed up 212.87 or 0.9 per cent at 23,980.65.

The gains in Asian equities also tracks the latest results of the US presidential election polls. Democratic party nominee Joe Biden was still polling ahead of Mr Trump as at Monday.

Said a DBS Group Research report on Tuesday: "Asian equity investors may prefer Biden's multilateral approach to Trump's unilateral and unpredictable style. Biden has said he will look to reconsider tariffs with China and end the trade war with the European Union."