After five weeks of being in the red zone, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) gained 1.4% to 2551.1 points from last week’s 2515.7 points on Tuesday (Aug 11).
This comes despite the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s (MTI) revised growth forecast for the year to -7% and -5%, and news that 2Q20 GDP ended June plunged 13.2% y-o-y, which is lower than the 12.6% predicted.
Sembcorp Industries saw the highest gain at 11.8% week-on-week (w-o-w) following the confirmation of its decoupling with Sembcorp Marine earlier in the day.
Venture Corporation came in a close second with a 11.4% w-o-w gain after it posted earnings of $70.2 million for the 2Q20 ended June on Aug 7. Quarter-on-quarter, the group registered a 16.4% and 2.9% increase in earnings and revenue respectively, after rebounding “swiftly” in 2Q from manufacturing restrictions in 1Q.
Other gainers included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (7.1%) and DBS Group Holdings (6.6%) following the release of their results for 2Q20. Singapore Airlines also gained 7.4% following the news that over 6,000 of its staff members have taken no-pay leave since March.
The biggest loser for the week was Genting Singapore, whose share price dipped 6.8% w-o-w following its lacklustre performance for 2Q20.
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