SINGAPORE stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday (Jun 26), as the city-state’s factory output data beat forecasts in May.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.2 per cent or 5.42 points to 3,331.7. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 270 to 214, after one billion securities worth S$874.9 million changed hands.
Singapore’s factory output grew 2.9 per cent year on year in May, as output in the key electronics sector rebounded from the previous month’s contraction.
This was better than the forecast given by private-sector economists, who predicted a 1.4 per cent expansion in a Bloomberg poll. It was also a turnaround from the previous month’s revised 1.2 per cent contraction.
The recovery in electronics industrial production was partly driven by supportive base effects, although the sequential momentum seemed to have also picked up pace, noted Jester Koh, associate economist at UOB.
Koh remains optimistic on the recovery prospects in the electronics and semiconductor sectors, given supportive base effects and as underlying end-demand fundamentals remain intact.
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The anticipated global easing of financial conditions could also provide some tailwinds to global investment and consumption activity towards the latter half of the year, he said.
On the STI, Singtel was the top gainer, rising 1.5 per cent or S$0.04 to S$2.70.
Meanwhile, Seatrium was the biggest decliner, falling 1.3 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.47.
The local banks ended mixed on Wednesday. DBS gained 0.1 per cent or S$0.04 to S$35.69, and UOB rose 0.4 per cent or S$0.13 to S$31.03, while OCBC lost 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$14.40.
Key indices in the region largely closed higher. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.1 per cent, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.3 per cent, the Kospi Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent, while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ended 0.4 per cent higher.
