Singapore stocks gain as regional markets end mixed; STI up 0.8%

SINGAPORE – Lukewarm results on Wall Street overnight failed to deter local investors from pushing shares into the black on March 14.

The positive mood left the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.8 per cent or 25.68 points to 3,186.40 on a day of moderate trading, with losers outnumbering gainers 286 to 270 after 1.6 billion securities worth $1.5 billion changed hands.

Sembcorp Industries led the gainers on the index, climbing 2.8 per cent to $5.07. Other strong performers included DBS and Keppel, which both rose 2 per cent.

Singtel, the subject of much market speculation lately about a possible sale of its Australian unit Optus, was the most active counter by value with 96.8 million shares traded, although the counter closed unchanged at $2.48.

Outgoing STI constituent Emperador continued its slide this week, sinking 6.5 per cent to close at 43 cents and at the bottom of the index performance table.

DBS Group Research analysts Foo Fang Boon and Yeo Kee Yan said the STI is likely to be range-bound between 3,030 and 3,300 in the coming months. They noted that STI’s earnings growth forecast is expected to decelerate to 3.5 per cent in the 2024 financial year and 2.6 per cent in 2025.

“The STI’s attractive valuations and over 5 per cent dividend yields are factors that offset a muted earnings growth outlook,” they added.

Markets were mixed elsewhere in the region after that largely downbeat trading day in New York.

Weaker tech stocks sent the S&P 500 down 0.2 per cent after it hit its 17th record of the year on Tuesday. The tech-focused Nasdaq slid 0.5 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1 per cent.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.3 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9 per cent but key indices in Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai closed in the red, declining between 0.2 and 0.7 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES