SINGAPORE – Singapore stocks closed higher on April 14, mirroring a recovery across regional markets.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.5 per cent or 23.4 points to finish at 5,007.57.
Mapletree Logistics Trust led the gainers on Singapore’s blue-chip index, rising 3.3 per cent or $0.04 to $1.24.
The three local banks also ended higher. DBS gained 0.1 per cent or $0.08 to $57.60, OCBC rose 1.3 per cent or $0.30 to $22.88, and UOB was up 0.5 per cent or $0.18 at $37.60.
The worst performer among STI constituents was DFI Retail Group, which fell 2.6 per cent or US$0.11 to US$4.16.
Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 437 to 188, after 2.3 billion securities worth $2.1 billion changed hands.
Elsewhere in the region, key indexes were positive. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.8 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.4 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi was up 2.7 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI advanced 0.5 per cent.
“After a weekend drenched in alarm bells and worst-case chatter, liquidity is thin, and emotion is doing most of the pricing,” said Mr Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
He added that the market is showing that positioning remains “tilted towards caution on the surface while conviction quietly rebuilds underneath”.
Meanwhile, Mr Nigel Green, deVere Group’s chief executive officer, noted that the current environment requires investors to make a “distinction between short-term market moves and underlying fundamentals”.
He elaborated that price movements are being influenced by “shifting expectations around diplomacy, while physical supply conditions are evolving more slowly”.
Investors should therefore be cautious about reading too much into a short-term decline in oil prices, he said.
“The structural risks tied to Gulf supply routes remain significant, and the market has yet to fully price the potential for disruption.” THE BUSINESS TIMES
