Singapore banks lead uptick; STI up 0.9%

SINGAPORE - Local stocks continued on their uptick on July 2, following gains by the local banks.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.9 per cent or 29.33 points to 3,367.9.

Across the broader market, losers outweighed gainers 302 to 268, after 1.1 billion securities worth S$1.3 billion changed hands.

Key indices in the region closed with mixed results.

The Nikkei 225 was up 1.1 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index was down 0.8 per cent; the Hang Seng Index was up 0.3 per cent.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI closed flat.

The markets have trained their focus on major polls on the horizon, including those in France and the UK, Maybank Investment Banking Group noted. There are doubts whether the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada can deliver yet another rate cut so soon after the first in June.

Maybank expects a higher-for-longer interest rate environment to continue to weigh on funding currencies such as the Japanese yen and the renminbi. The Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah managed to eke out gains in June. The rupiah was supported by anticipated inclusions of stocks and bonds in global indexes, while the baht was a laggard among Asian currencies, making it susceptible to rebounds if the US yield comes off more considerably.

On the STI, the biggest gainers were DBS and OCBC.

DBS shares rose 2.7 per cent to S$37.10. OCBC was the second-biggest gainer. Its shares rose 2.1 per cent to S$14.80.

UOB was the fourth-biggest gainer on the STI, its share price rose 1.1 per cent to S$31.65.

The top decliner was Sembcorp Industries, falling 4.3 per cent to S$4.56 .THE BUSINESS TIMES