SINGAPORE shares rose on Thursday (Aug 15) amid strong retail sales and gross domestic product data from China and Japan, respectively.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.9 per cent or 29.45 points to 3,315.73. Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 314 to 263 after one billion securities worth S$1.3 billion were traded.
Regional markets were broadly in the black. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 per cent, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index gained 0.9 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.02 per cent.
Stephen Innes, SPI Asset Management managing partner, said that Asian stock indices were likely riding a wave of new economic data from the region.
In China, retail sales rose 2.7 per cent in July, beating expectations for a 2.6 per cent growth. However, the nation’s factory output growth in the same month slowed for the third straight month to 5.1 per cent, below analyst forecasts for a 5.2 per cent increase.
Meanwhile, Japan’s second-quarter GDP rose by 3.1 per cent annualised, which beat expectations.
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Furthermore, all eyes are on the upcoming US August payroll figures, Innes noted.
“While the latest US consumer price index print flashes a green light for the Fed to initiate rate cuts, possibly in September, the real debate is whether it’ll be a bold 50-basis-point dive or a more cautious 25-basis-point trim,” he said.
On the STI, ST Engineering was the top gainer. It was up 4.4 per cent or S$0.19 to S$4.56.
The trio of local banks also rose on Thursday. DBS gained 0.4 per cent or S$0.15 to S$34.76, OCBC was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.07 to S$14.02, and UOB climbed 1.4 per cent or S$0.40 to S$30.03.
City Developments Ltd was at the bottom of the table, falling 3.1 per cent or S$0.16 to S$5.05.
