Daily Update: STI stays in touch with the 3,000 level

The Straits Times Index closed flat on Wednesday's trade with a modest gain of 2.85 points or 0.10% ending at 2,998.77.

Positive sentiment from Wall Street boosted many stocks across Asian markets. Some 3.48-billion securities worth S$1.52-billion changed hands during the day.

Top performers for the day were YZJ Shipbuilding with 2.83% or S$0.03 gain, Venture Manufacturing up by 1.19% or US$0.24, and Wilmar International which went higher by S$0.08 or 1.52%.

On Wall Street, most US stocks also traded in the positive territory as President Joe Biden gave his first presidential address on his inauguration day.

S&P 500 closed up by 1.39% or 52.94 points at 3,851.85. NASDAQ also went higher by 1.97% or 260.07 points to 13,457.25 while Dow Jones Industrial had an upswing by 257.86 points or 0.83% at 31,188.38.

Meanwhile, London's blue-chip index managed to reverse its losses for the past trading days mainly due to miners' gain after a strong production outlook from BHP Group.

FTSE 100 gained about 0.41% or 27.44 points at 6,740.39 while FTSE 250 also ended higher by 1.35% or 278.57 points at 20,881.46.