SINGAPORE – Local shares ended in negative territory on Oct 30 despite a more buoyant session on Wall Street overnight.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) headed into the Deepavali holiday at 3,558.8 points, down 0.88 per cent or 31.48 points, although trade was solid, with 1.4 billion securities worth $1.7 billion changing hands while losers outnumbered gainers 344 to 217.
Hongkong Land had a strong showing at the top of the index performers, surging 10.8 per cent to US$4.31, after the property group announced on Oct 29 that it will exit the build-to-sell residential development business and pivot towards fund management.
Conglomerate Jardine Matheson, of which Hongkong Land is a part, also finished higher, gaining 5.1 per cent to US$38.50.
The STI’s biggest loser was ST Engineering, down 2.2 per cent at $4.54.
The three local banks ended lower: DBS fell 1.6 per cent to $38.66; UOB dropped 1.8 per cent to $32.16; and OCBC lost 1.6 per cent to $15.19.
Wall Street was more positive after a tech rally lifted the Nasdaq 0.8 per cent to a new high and its 28th record close of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent but the Dow industrials fell 0.4 per cent.
Most regional indices also shrugged off Wall Street’s gains to end in the red. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.6 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.9 per cent and Malaysian shares fell 0.8 per cent. The ASX 200 in Sydney dropped 0.8 per cent after hitting a three-week low on weak consumer stocks.
The outlier was Japan’s Nikkei 225, which extended its rally with a 1 per cent gain after the coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) failed to secure a majority seating in the lower house.
