Singapore stocks rise, tracking regional bourses

SINGAPORE - Singapore stocks started the week in the black on June 18, after markets reopened following the Hari Raya Haji holiday the day before.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.1 per cent or 4.23 points to close at 3,301.78.

Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 306 to 269, with 1.3 billion securities worth $1.1 billion having changed hands.

The biggest gainer on the STI was consumer goods conglomerate Jardine Cycle & Carriage, which gained 3.1 per cent or $0.85 to close at $28.18.

Technology, defence and engineering group ST Engineering was also one of the biggest gainers on the index. It gained 1.3 per cent or five cents to close at $4.03.

Seatrium saw the biggest drop on Tuesday, after the offshore and marine group announced last week that it was involved in an investigation by the authorities here in relation to a bribery case in Brazil.

The counter fell 9.6 per cent or 16 cents to S$1.51. It was also the most actively traded counter by volume, with 97.3 million shares worth $150.9 million traded.

Most regional markets ended in the black on Tuesday.

Australia’s ASX 200 was up by 1 per cent after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced its decision to retain its benchmark interest rate at 4.35 per cent in light of persistent inflation.

Ms Charu Chanana, the head of FX Strategy at Saxo Markets, said that the Australian central bank’s move came as no surprise.

She said that the RBA is unlikely to ease its monetary policy unless it sees at least two more quarters of lower inflation.

While the bank could still introduce a rate hike, the bar for the market to price the rate hike in will remain high, she added.

Across other regional markets, South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.7 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei was up by 1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, however, bucked the trend to fall 0.1 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES