Singapore shares ended on a firmer note yesterday, but trading interest was light, with some brokers spending their time following campaigning for the general election.
Sentiment was also boosted by signs that China's factories are slowly gathering steam, with the Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index rising to 51.2 compared with expectations of a reading of 50.5.
"This also marks a six-month high, sustaining the recovery trend and injecting further optimism into the market," said IG market strategist Jingyi Pan.
The Straits Times Index (STI) opened at 2,604.08 and hit an intraday high of 2,619.35, before settling at 2,610.17, up 20.26 points or 0.78 per cent. About 1.7 billion shares worth $840.83 million were traded, with 242 gainers to 133 losers.
Loss-making Singapore eDevelopment topped the actives, with more than 200 million shares changing hands as the stock lost 0.3 per cent to 11.4 cents. The firm said last month that its subsidiary proved in-vitro success in independent lab testing of a treatment and prophylactic to protect cells against Covid-19 and a surface disinfectant to kill the virus in very low concentrations.
Luzhou Biochem led the gainers, soaring 93 per cent to 2.9 cents. Founder Niu Ji Xing, who is also Luzhou's executive chairman and chief executive, has launched a voluntary conditional general offer to buy Luzhou shares at 3 cents apiece, in a deal that values the company at $17.8 million.
Singapore Exchange (SGX) ended 1.8 per cent down at $8.19, in spite of news that it will launch FTSE Taiwan Index - which covers nearly 80 per cent of listed firms by market capitalisation - to replace MSCI Taiwan Index.
Some analysts expect some upside for SGX, which has seen its shares battered by news that rival Hong Kong Exchange had struck a deal for a suite of MSCI equity indexes similar to those offered here.
Frencken Group inched up 4.6 per cent to 92 cents on more than six million shares traded. DBS has a buy call on the group and has raised its target price from 92 cents to $1.02. It noted Frencken's diverse business and exposure to the medical segment and the semiconductor sectors, which accounted for about 30 per cent of 2019 revenue.
Regional bourses mostly dipped. South Korea closed down 0.08 per cent and Japan shed 0.75 per cent. But Shanghai rose 1.38 per cent and Shenzhen added 0.79 per cent as recently reimposed lockdowns eased in Beijing.
