STI up 0.9% with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, banks logging gains

[SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended higher on Friday (Sep 4).

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.9 per cent or 54.25 points to finish at 5,801.96.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 4.7 per cent or S$0.22 to S$4.94. The company had reported strong earnings in August, with the progressive construction of vessels secured at higher contract prices.

The worst performer among STI constituents was Sembcorp Industries , which fell 1.1 per cent or S$0.07 to S$6.11.

The three local banks ended higher. DBS gained 0.9 per cent or S$0.70 to S$78.65, OCBC rose 1.1 per cent or S$0.35 to S$32.27, and UOB was up 0.6 per cent or S$0.27 at S$42.01.

Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, Yangzijiang Financial was the top gainer, rising 4.6 per cent or S$0.009 to S$0.205, while UltraGreen.ai was the biggest loser, falling 8.3 per cent or US$0.06 to US$0.66.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 374 to 210, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$1.9 billion changed hands.

Addvalue Tech was the most actively traded stock, with 184.3 million shares changing hands. DBS was the most actively traded stock in terms of value, with 3.8 million shares worth S$296.1 million traded.

Key regional indices were mostly up amid reduced expectations of a US rate hike. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.7 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.6 per cent. But the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.4 per cent.

Investor anxiety over a US rate hike had crept up earlier this week amid inflation worries, while government bond yields hit new highs.

But US Federal Reserve hike expectations have since “scaled back sharply” over the past few days, analyst Stephen Innes said.

“(The) markets are now closer to a coin toss on whether the Fed hikes this month, down from roughly 70 per cent earlier in the week. That has taken some heat out of US yields,” he added.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a reporter