Reporter
Bookmark & Share
STOCKS here regained some ground in volatile trading yesterday after Monday's bruising losses, though there was no clear indication of the likely direction for the rest of the week.
The Straits Times Index (STI) finished 21.74 points or 0.9 per cent higher at 2,567.72, reversing part of the losses suffered on Monday, when the index slid 3.3 per cent amid a worldwide slump in equity prices.
Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific yesterday, other major stock indices ended mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8 per cent to 20,306.27, while Japan's Nikkei-225 index inched 0.2 per cent higher to finish at 10,284.96, though stock benchmarks in Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Australia fell.
Here, the STI declined as much as 0.5 per cent in morning trading, but recouped the losses in the afternoon to end the day higher. Of its 30 component stocks, 19 rose while 11 fell.
The main stocks lifting the index were telco SingTel, which rose 1.6 per cent to $3.18 and lenders OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank. OCBC gained 1.8 per cent to finish at $7.77, while UOB ended 1.3 per cent up at $16.54. Rival lender DBS Group also rose, closing 0.6 per cent higher at $12.68.
Among the stocks weighing on the STI were telco StarHub, which slid 4 per cent to close at $2.16, and media group Singapore Press Holdings, which fell 1.4 per cent to $3.46.
In the overall market, 278 counters rose, outnumbering the 153 that fell, while 435 ended unchanged. That excludes warrants and bonds, whose prices sometimes move in the opposite direction of a company's share price.
The FTSE ST All-Share index that tracks 263 of the most liquid stocks here rose one per cent, outpacing the STI's gains, with 142 of its members rising and 50 falling.
All 13 FTSE ST industry sector indices ended higher. The basic materials index, which tracks 18 stocks including coal mining company Straits Asia Resources and Midas Holdings, which makes plastic pipes and aluminium industrial parts, gained the most, rebounding 4.1 per cent after Monday's 5.4 per cent slide.
Straits Asia's shares jumped 8.2 per cent to end at $2.25. The firm said after trading ended on Monday that it now has approval from the Indonesian government to extract coal from a 'significant area' within its coal concession on Sebuku Island in South Kalimantan that was previously restricted from mining.
Property counters were also actively traded, after government data published on Monday showed that sales of new private homes reached a record high of 2,767 units in July. Ho Bee Investment, which has various projects at the Sentosa Cove luxury development site, jumped 10 per cent to $1.21 after positive recommendations from analysts.
Palm oil group Golden Agri-Resources was the most heavily traded counter in the overall market for the second day this week, with 160.6 million shares changing hands. It ended 3.2 per cent higher at 48 cents, as the price of crude palm oil futures traded on Bursa Malaysia rose, snapping a two-day slide.
The FTSE ST China index, which tracks China stocks listed here, rose 1.6 per cent, with 28 of its 51 members gaining, as stocks listed in mainland China also recovered after Monday's plunge. The CSI 300 index tracking stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose one per cent, recouping part of the losses suffered in Monday's 6.1 per cent decline.
The FTSE ST Catalist Index that tracks sponsor-supervised stocks listed on the junior board here gained 3.5 per cent.
Search Property News
