Singapore shares gain ground; STI rises 0.3% despite Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dive

The three local banks show mixed performance, with DBS declining while OCBC and UOB advance

SINGAPORE equities climbed on Thursday (Feb 27) as investors took stock of company earnings.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 13.14 points to 3,921.19.

Across the broader market, losers beat gainers 289 to 269, after 1.9 billion securities worth S$2 billion changed hands.

Gains on the index were led by CapitaLand Investment, which added 4.8 per cent or S$0.12 to close at S$2.62. The group announced on Thursday a core dividend of S$0.12 per share and a special dividend-in-specie of 0.031 CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust unit per share.

At the other end of the index was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which plunged 9 per cent or S$0.24 to S$2.44, after the company on Wednesday posted earnings of 3.6 billion yuan (S$659.3 million) for the second half ended December, 50.5 per cent higher year on year than 2.4 billion yuan.

The stock also declined earlier in the week, when the US proposed to slap fees on Chinese-built vessels entering US ports.

DBS said in a Thursday note that the news brings “uncertainty and impacts new ordering sentiment”, but any new orders placed will be delivered from 2028, nearing the end of US President Donald Trump’s term.

The performance of the three local banks was mixed. DBS slipped 0.1 per cent or S$0.06 to S$46.61, UOB added 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 to S$38.51, and OCBC gained 0.9 per cent or S$0.16 to S$17.37.

Regional indices ended mostly lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7 per cent and the Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index ticked down 0.1 per cent. However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent.

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