The index is up 10 per cent this year, putting it on track for its best year since 2017
THE Straits Times Index (STI) ended Friday (Sep 13) at 3,562.65 points, up 6.12 points or 0.2 per cent, and marking its fourth consecutive close at a 52-week high. Advancers beat decliners 346 to 189, with 1.1 billion securities worth S$1.4 billion changing hands.
Over a five-day period, the STI chalked up a gain of 3.1 per cent. It is up 10 per cent this year, putting it on track for its best year since 2017.
Gains on Friday were led by shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, which gained 3.2 per cent or S$0.08 to close at S$2.56. The company is in the process of acquiring a 34 per cent stake in a Chinese shipbuilder called Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding (TZS).
In a report dated Sep 12, financial services provider CGS International said there is room for collaboration to improve TZS’ gross margins and earnings contributions to Yangzijiang. CGS has an “add” call on Yangzijiang and a target price of S$3.20.
Within the mid-cap space, offshore services provider Dyna-Mac Holdings was among the five most heavily traded Singapore-listed stocks.
A unit of South Korean chaebol Hanwha Corp has made an offer to buy shares of Dyna-Mac it does not already own for S$0.60 per share. Shares of Dyna-Mac have mostly traded above that price, however, and closed at S$0.63 on Friday, up 1.6 per cent.
Analysts from Maybank and OCBC have recommended that shareholders not accept the offer, as they said the price undervalues the stock.
Asian market performance was mixed on Friday. The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.8 per cent. In China, both the Shanghai and Shenzhen composites ended the day down – by 0.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
In South-east Asia, Malaysia led the pack rising 0.8 per cent. Thailand and Indonesia were up 0.2 per cent – similar to Singapore’s performance. The Philippines ended the day flat.
