SINGAPORE shares tracked regional gains on Friday (Jan 31), ending the week higher after markets reopened following the two-day break for Chinese New Year.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 1.4 per cent or 54.75 points to 3,855.82. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 282 to 140, after one billion securities worth S$1.8 billion changed hands.
Regional indices were largely higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.3 per cent, while the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index gained 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.8 per cent, while the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets remained closed for Chinese New Year.
On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve announced that it would keep interest rates steady, in a widely expected move.
“We aren’t waiting for Fed decisions or guidance; rather, we are waiting for economic outcomes and incoming policy moves that will drive those outcomes, namely from the Trump administration,” said John Hardy, chief macro strategist at Saxo.
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“Trump is the first mover for now and will remain so until we have the firm outlines of his administration’s tariff schedule and the pace at which it will or won’t ratchet (up tariffs) as well as the follow-on response from the rest of the world,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hardy expects to continue seeing some fallout in key market sectors amid news about DeepSeek, despite “the market’s brave attempt to brush this off”.
On the STI, Genting Singapore was the biggest gainer, rising 3.4 per cent or S$0.025 to S$0.755.
On Friday, rival integrated resorts operator Marina Bay Sands posted a 7.2 per cent rise in net revenue to US$1.1 billion for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, Mapletree Logistics Trust was the biggest decliner, falling 3.2 per cent or S$0.04 to S$1.22.
The local banking trio ended higher. DBS rose 2 per cent or S$0.88 to S$44.61, OCBC gained 2.1 per cent or S$0.36 to S$17.40, and UOB was up 1.7 per cent or S$0.64 at S$37.51.
