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Friday, October 16, 2020 – 10:01 am
SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Friday as the Republic’s National Non-Oil Export (NODX) figures extended their gains in September, boosting investor sentiment.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.4 percent or 11.20 points to 2,534.82 at 9:06 am. Some 73.7 million securities worth S $ 72.2 million changed hands, as those that advanced outnumbered those that declined 98 to 32.
On Friday morning, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) announced that the country’s NODX rose 5.9 percent year-on-year mainly due to an increase in shipments of electronic products from its low base the previous year. Although the figure fell short of analysts’ expectations of an 11.5 percent increase in a recent Bloomberg survey, it expanded gains of 5.9 percent and 7.7 percent in July and August, respectively.
Shares of Malaysian glove makers rose on Friday despite the US Labor Department adding Malaysian-made rubber gloves to a list of products produced through forced labor on Thursday.
The glove maker trio started on the highest day. Top Glove Corporation gained S $ 0.03 or 1% to S $ 3.07, Riverstone Holdings rose S $ 0.06 or 1.6% to S $ 3.93, while UG Healthcare rose S $ 0.02 or 2% to S $ 1.02.
Local lenders also advanced in the first operations. DBS added S $ 0.05 or 0.2% to S $ 21.12, UOB rose S $ 0.09 or 0.5% to S $ 19.55, while OCBC rose S $ 0.09 or 1% to S $ 8.72.
Jardine Matheson Holdings and Jardine Cycle and Carriage were among the top declines. The former lost $ 0.38 or 0.9 percent to $ 41.44, while the latter lost $ 0.16 or 0.8 percent to $ 20.17.
New Silkroutes Group shares fell 22.8 percent or 2.6 Singapore cents to 8.8 cents after its non-independent chairman and non-executive Goh Jin Hian and CFO William Teo Thiam Chuan resigned last night. Dr. Goh resigned to “focus on personal matters and pursue other interests,” while Teo resigned “to devote more time to his personal affairs,” the company said in a stock release Thursday night.
US stocks closed lower for a third day in a row Thursday amid mounting doubts about a possible stimulus package. Furthermore, investor confidence was clouded by the reinstatement of Covid-19 restrictions by European governments in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 percent to close at 28,494.20, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to end at 3,483.34, while the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 11,713.87.
Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets opened mostly lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.1%, the broader Topix Index lost 0.3%, while the Hang Seng Index was down 0.5%.
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