STI starts week with gains of 0.42% at 2,543.57

SHANGHAI'S key index emerged as an outlier on Monday: it was among the rare few that ended in the red on a day many of its counterparts, including Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 and Singapore's Straits Times Index (STI), closed with gains.

The party pooper Shanghai Composite Index ended at 3,312.67 points or 0.71 per cent lower, after China's third-quarter economic data missed expectations, having risen only by 4.9 per cent.

However, other bourses rallied on the back of investors' optimism for a new US stimulus package.

The STI kicked off the week up 10.55 points or 0.42 per cent at 2,543.57 points.

Ground handler and inflight-caterer Sats was one of the better performers on the STI, delivering a 0.99 per cent gain at S$3.06. The firm has accelerated plans to diversify its revenue streams out of both aviation as well as its domestic market of Singapore amid the pandemic.

Wilmar International was near the bottom of the STI performance table, ending at S$4.40 or 1.78 per cent lower. Analysts said the drop in price was "unjustified" and the price gap with its recently listed Chinese unit Yihai Kerry Arawana (YKA) "too wide".

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Thai Beverage Public Company was the most active STI stock with a trading volume of 40.38 million shares, but it was flat at S$0.58 at market close.

STI debutant Keppel DC Reit had a flattish performance at S$3.04 when closing bell rang.

Advancers beat decliners 220 to 198 for the day, with 1.59 billion securities worth S$945.6 million traded.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 22 5index gained 1.11 per cent to close at 23,671.13 on bargain hunting while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rose 0.95 per cent to 1,518.11.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.85 per cent to 6,229.38 - its highest since March 6 and South Korea's Kospi was up 0.22 per cent, at 2,346.74.