SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – Local investors took heart at Friday’s news of the expected relaxation of Covid-19 measures.
All eyes will now be on Finance Minister Lawrence Wong’s ministerial statement on Monday, which will outline support measures for heightened Covid-19 restrictions.
The slightly brighter mood allowed the Straits Times Index (STI) to close up 0.15 per cent, or 4.76 points, to 3,128.95 on Friday.
The optimism was reflected in the trading figures, with gainers outpacing losers 269 to 230 while 1.74 billion shares worth $1.1 billion changed hands.
Traders were also keeping an eye on the United States jobs data that came in overnight to offer further guidance on the Federal Reserve’s policy stance on interest rates.
Any outperformance in job gains would signal a quicker recovery in the labour force, said IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong.
“That may potentially support the Fed’s stance of an earlier timeline for a rate hike and drive some volatility in the markets,” he added.
Aviation and travel-related stocks were among the best performing on the blue-chip index here on Friday.
Singapore Airlines was up 1.8 per cent to $4.98, Sats gained 1.3 per cent to $3.99, while ComfortDelGro rose 0.6 per cent to $1.64.
Venture Corporation was at the other end of the league table, falling 1 per cent to $19.03.
Thai Beverage was the most heavily traded on the STI, with 41.8 million shares changing hands. The stock dipped 0.7 per cent to 67 cents.
It was a mixed bag elsewhere in region with pandemic issues intruding on investor confidence in some markets, although Wall Street’s positive finish overnight gave some traders a boost.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.27 per cent, while the Jakarta Composite Index gained 0.28 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.01 per cent, and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 0.06 per cent.
The failure of Opec+ to agree on oil production gave energy stocks a lift and helped Australian shares to close up 0.6 per cent.
That in turn allowed the market to end a topsy-turvy week flat.