[SINGAPORE] Shares on the Singapore bourse ended higher on Thursday (Mar 13), even as most regional markets ended in the red.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) climbed 0.1 per cent or 4.45 points to close at 3,837.52.
The top gainer on the index was ST Engineering, which rose 3.6 per cent or S$0.22 to S$6.25.
The biggest decliner on the index was DFI Retail Group. The counter slid 1.3 per cent or US$0.03 to US$2.25.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 51.7 million shares worth S$116.9 million traded. The counter fell 1.3 per cent or S$0.03 to S$2.30.
Across the broader market, gainers edged out losers 247 to 236, after 1.3 billion securities worth S$1.8 billion were traded.
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Markets across the region were mostly down, following the release of the US consumer price index report for February.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.08 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.05 per cent and Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.5 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also declined, falling 0.6 per cent.
Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho’s head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan, said that US consumer inflation for February softened more than expected to 2.8 per cent, based on the report released on Wednesday.
However, the drop in inflation is not a “decisive” solution for sticky inflation risks, as it is mostly due to a large decrease in airfares, he pointed out.
Inflation has also not dropped enough for the US Federal Reserve to resume rate cuts, he noted, adding that it would be “premature” for the Fed to “let its guard down at this juncture” despite the relief provided by the February data.
