Singapore shares failed to sustain the momentum and finished marginally lower on Thursday (Oct 6), with the blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.05 per cent or 1.67 points at 3,151.56. The bourse had opened higher.
Paring losses in the US indices overnight, along with some equity futures moving higher on Thursday morning may suggest that market bulls are attempting to hang on despite the lack of reinforcement from economic data for the narrative of the Federal Reserve’s pivot to stop rate hikes, The Business Times cited Yeap Jun Rong, IG market strategist, saying.
He said: “This may put the Asian trading session more towards a flat to slightly positive frame, as we head into the release of the US jobs report on Oct 7.”
A day after Sats : S58 +1.36% CEO Kerry Mok told The Business Times in an exclusive interview that the inflight caterer and ground handler aims to “reduce” the size of any rights issue, the stock rebounded and closed 1.4 per cent higher at S$2.99. The counter slid to a 52-week low of S$2.94, almost the price level in the depths of the pandemic, after the company announced the proposed acquisition of air cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) : C6L -1.16% finished 1.2 per cent lower at S$5.11, as oil prices rose to three-week highs after the oil cartel of OPEC+ decided to cut output by two million barrels per day. The flag carrier had earlier noted its profitability could be hit by higher fuel costs because it may not be able to fully mitigate the increase in cost via fuel hedging or a rise in fares.
Overall, the broader market registered 217 losers against 256 gainers on a trading turnover of 1.33 billion securities worth S$980.75 million.
