SINGAPORE - Stocks in Singapore closed higher on May 6, with real estate investment trusts (Reits) and property stocks leading the gainers.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 0.3 per cent or 10.26 points to close at 3,303.19.

Mapletree Logistics Trust finished at the top of the index performance table, rising 3 per cent to close at $1.39. Other counters in the top five included CapitaLand Ascendas Reit, Mapletree PanAsia Commercial Trust and Hongkong Land, which made gains of between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent.

The outperformance came amid improved investor sentiment towards inflation and interest rates.

IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong said: “Market participants have been cheering the weaker-than-expected US jobs report and the US services’ Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data (out last week)... which helped to calm nerves around stagflation and offered room for the Federal Reserve to consider earlier rate cuts.”

The three local banks had a mixed performance, with DBS Bank closing 0.5 per cent up, while the two other banks closed lower – UOB slipping 0.3 per cent and OCBC Bank edging down 0.1 per cent.

Venture Corporation was the top index decliner, falling 1.5 per cent to close at $14.25.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 302 to 261 after 1.07 billion securities worth $865.04 million changed hands.

Elsewhere in the region, stocks mostly closed higher, tracking the positive performance on Wall Street on May 3. Key indexes in Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rose between 0.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent.

Mr Yeap noted that the dovish recalibration in rate expectations may offer some relief to risk sentiments in the region, with market participants watching whether the weaker growth conditions in the US will form a trend over the coming months. THE BUSINESS TIMES