STI breaches 4,900; DBS, OCBC, UOL, Jardine Matheson end at record highs

Singapore shares breached the 4,900 mark on Tuesday (Jan 27), with the record-breaking momentum buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street, a flight to safe-haven assets and optimism about US Big Tech earnings.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) rose 62.09 points or 1.3 per cent to 4,923.02, after several constituents closed at record highs.

UOLsurged 8 per cent or S$0.83 to S$11.18, with the property player not only topping the STI performance tally, but also climbing higher than its previous peak.

Jardine Matheson also closed at a historical high of US$76.28, after gaining 2 per cent or US$1.47.

DBS added 1.7 per cent or S$0.98 to finish at S$59.27 – also an all-time high. OCBC closed with a fresh record as well, rising 1.8 per cent or S$0.38 to S$21.42. But their counterpart UOB lagged behind. It slid 0.1 per cent or S$0.05 to end at S$38.45.

Meanwhile, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index – which tracks the performance of the 50 largest companies listed on the mainboard after the STI stocks – inched up 0.1 per cent or 1.7 points to 1,497.87.

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Across the broader market, gainers beat losers 341 to 235, with nearly 1.5 billion securities valued at over S$2.1 billion transacted.

Chong Yik Ban, analyst at Phillip Securities Research, attributed the Singapore benchmark index’s performance to a flight to safe havens and investor optimism ahead of US Big Tech companies’ earnings release.

He noted rising long-term bond yields reflect market nervousness over US fiscal discipline. In light of that, investors may be preferring the Singapore market, he said.

“If Big Tech beats expectations, global liquidity (will often flow) into the Singapore market following ‘risk-on’ sentiments,” he said. “Overall bullish sentiments on equities as an asset class would drive Singapore stock performance if Big Tech (companies) outperform in their earnings.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices closed Monday up 0.6 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

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