SGX extends rally; Singapore Airlines climbs over 4%

Singapore stocks extended gains on Wednesday, a day after the index jumped to more than a two-year high, led by Singapore Airlines after a surge in September-quarter profit.

SGX
An electric display chart showing the afternoon trading trend of the blue chip Hang Seng Index is seen through a camera at a brokerage in Hong Kong, China. REUTERS

Singapore stocks extended gains on Wednesday, a day after the index jumped to more than a two-year high, led by Singapore Airlines after a surge in September-quarter profit.

Asian shares paused at decade peaks amid concerns Republican plans for major U.S. tax cuts were running into headwinds even before the Senate releases its own version of the proposals, Reuters reported.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.05 percent having hit its highest since November 2007 on Tuesday.

The Straits Times Index edged up 0.24 percent or 8 points to 3,421. It ended 0.92 percent higher on Tuesday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 18 percent.

DBS Group Holdings rose 1.1 percent, United Overseas Bank gained 0.3 percent while Oversea-Chinese Bank dropped 0.4 percent.

Singapore Airlines advanced 4.2 percent after its second-quarter net profit jumped about 193 percent, helped by strong performance of Parent Airline and SIA Cargo.

Perennial Real Estate Holdings reported a surge in third-quarter profit, boosted by share of results from its associated company, Yanlord Perennial Investment, which launched an offer for United Engineers. But the stock fell 0.6 percent.

Realty company CapitaLand reported a 28 percent rise in third-quarter profit, helped by fair value and portfolio gains. The stock fell 2 percent.

Singapore Technologies Engineering posted a 67 percent jump in the third-quarter net profit due to the absence of a one-off charge incurred in the same period last year. The shares, however, fell 1.7 percent.

About 2.8 billion shares worth S$1.3 billion changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 250 to 194.

READ MORE