Singapore shares end lower on Friday on profit-taking

SINGAPORE - Punters on the local bourse cashed in their profits on Friday at the end of a solid trading week that saw the benchmark Straits Times Index rising to an almost one-year high.

The STI fell 4.86 points, or 0.15 per cent, to end the week at 3,295.85.

Some 1.59 billion shares worth $1.2 billion changed hands.

There were 178 gainers versus 223 losers.

There was some profit-taking in SingPost shares, which had reached a record on Thursday after the firm announced that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba was buying a 10 per cent stake. SingPost dropped 3.5 cents to $1.645.

Most Asian stocks declined, with the regional benchmark index, the MSCI Asia Pacific index, paring its biggest monthly advance since September.

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