SINGAPORE shares ended Tuesday (Jan 7) in positive territory, even as overseas markets closed mixed.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.2 per cent or 6.33 points at 3,828.17. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 320 to 223 after 847.1 million securities worth S$988.5 million changed hands.
Regional indices were varied. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 1.2 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi index edged up 0.1 per cent. The Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index ended up 0.3 per cent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2 per cent.
IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said that the continuing weakening in the yen may remain the key driver for the Nikkei’s outperformance.
“We prefer a lean into the Nikkei for now, which has been forming a series of higher lows amid an ascending triangle pattern over the past months,” he noted.
Back home, all three local banks closed higher. DBS gained 1.3 per cent or S$0.55 to S$44.50, UOB added 0.7 per cent or S$0.25 to end at S$37.05, and OCBC expanded 0.4 per cent or S$0.06 to S$16.85.
Analysts said that the banking trio’s earnings will likely grow in 2025, riding higher-for-longer rates and strong wealth management businesses.
The STI’s top gainer was Seatrium, which rose 2.3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$2.25. CapitaLand Investment ended at the bottom of the index, falling 2.3 per cent or S$0.06 to S$2.58.
Outside the STI, semiconductor player AEM ended up 5.6 per cent or S$0.09 at S$1.71. It recently appointed Kwek You-Cheer as its new chief financial officer.
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