Not even the United States tax cuts coming into law could ignite investor interest yesterday, in what has been a downbeat week.
The Straits Times Index (STI) sagged yet again, slipping 9.6 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 3,394.87.
Unsurprisingly, turnover was lacklustre with 1.43 billion shares worth $1.04 billion traded while losers outnumbered gainers 237 to 161.
Investment firm Rowsley continued to dominate the roster of most heavily traded stocks. About 200 million shares changed hands yesterday after news that the firm will pay $1.6 billion to acquire healthcare businesses from controlling shareholder Peter Lim.
The counter, which had been on track for another day of mild decline, ticked up at the eleventh hour to put on 0.2 cent, or 1.54 per cent, to 13.2 cents.
Singapore Reinsurance Corp was another hot stock, adding 1.5 cents, or 4.84 per cent, to 32.5 cents, with 116 million shares changing hands.
It was a surprise appearance by a staid counter that last traded on Dec 11 with just 70,000 shares done.
The firm has not filed any announcements with the Singapore Exchange since its third-quarter results on Nov 13, when it posted a net profit of $1.93 million - a year-on-year rise of 8 per cent.
Another gainer was United Industrial Corporation, which rose one cent to $3.33 after its independent financial adviser recommended on Tuesday that investors in its Singapore Land unit accept a mandatory unconditional cash offer.
But UOL Group, the offerer, fell five cents to $8.80.
The STI took another hit from telco Singtel, which shed three cents to $3.58 on a volume of 47 million shares traded.
Another constituent stock that fared unfavourably was Thai Beverage, down one cent or 1.05 per cent to 94 cents, with 10.68 million shares changing hands.
CIMB analysts downgraded the counter yesterday to a "hold" while citing the potential for debt problems in its bid for a majority stake in a Vietnamese brewer.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong was down 0.07 per cent while the Shanghai Composite ended 0.27 per cent lower amid a year-end liquidity squeeze from Chinese lenders.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 per cent but Ms Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Markit in Tokyo, told Reuters that investor concern is growing over the US tax bill.
""It will take some time to know whether or not it will have an impact on the economy," she said.
