Singapore shares settle higher on Thursday; STI extends rally, up 1.6%

The benchmark index’s gains mirror major regional indices, such as the Kospi, which rose 0.9%

The Straits Times Index (STI) continued to rally on Thursday (Apr 17), tracking regional indices.

The STI closed up 1.6 per cent or 57.88 points at 3,720.33.

The trio of local banks continued to bounce back, with DBS adding 1.8 per cent or S$0.73 to close at S$40.83. OCBC rose 2 per cent or S$0.31 to S$15.98 and UOB increased 2 per cent or S$0.67 to S$34.80.

DFI Retail Group stayed in the top spot on the benchmark index, settling 7.6 per cent or US$0.17 higher at US$2.41.

The biggest loser was Wilmar, shedding 1 per cent or S$0.03 to close at S$3.09.

Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 361 to 179, after 1.2 billion shares worth S$1.4 billion changed hands.

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Major regional indices closed higher. The Kospi rose 0.9 per cent and the Nikkei 225 added 1.4 cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 1.6 per cent and the KLCI gained 0.4 per cent.

The swings in the market are a byproduct of forced dichotomies amid trade uncertainties, said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research, Mizuho Securities. Tariff uncertainty is an understated reference, with the potential for bouts of acute geoeconomic stress lurking beneath.

“This tends to amplify market sensitivities to diplomatic as well as policy triggers, which are deemed to feed off and into one another,” he noted.

Headline risks are now reduced to a series of high-stakes and uncertain binary outcomes, which play out as market volatility. However, false dichotomies on policy, economic outcomes and premature deal relief could lead to mis-priced risks, which could result in abrupt corrections, he added.

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