Singapore stocks edge lower ahead of key US data; STI down 0.2%
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Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 352 to 227.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Renald Yeo
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- Singapore's STI fell 0.2% to 4,579.73 amidst mixed regional market performance, with losers outpacing gainers.
- City Developments led STI gainers after agreeing to sell Quayside Isle for $97.3 million, while Singtel was the worst performer.
- DBS reached a record $56 before closing at $55.49, and OCBC hit a fresh high of $19.44, reflecting positive analyst target prices.
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SINGAPORE - Singapore stocks ended lower on Dec 16, ahead of a slate of US economic data due later in the day.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent, or 9.44 points, to 4,579.73. The iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index slipped 0.1 per cent, or 1.11 points, to 1,434.88.
Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 352 to 227, after 1.1 billion securities worth $1.4 billion changed hands.
Regional markets were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.5 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.6 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.2 per cent. Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, meanwhile, rose 0.3 per cent.
Later on Dec 16, the United States is expected to release key economic indicators, including retail sales and the delayed November non-farm payrolls report.
“The key thing is the unemployment rate,” said Mr Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets.
On the STI, City Developments led the gainers, rising 1.9 per cent or 14 cents to close at $7.50.
The Business Times reported on Dec 15 that the property developer had agreed to sell its Quayside Isle @ Sentosa Cove property – a two-storey waterfront lifestyle mall – for $97.3 million.
Singapore’s largest lender, DBS, reached a new record of $56 at 9.07am, before closing the day at $55.49. The bank was assigned a target price of $70 by JPMorgan on Nov 28.
OCBC shares closed at a fresh high of $19.44. A DBS Group Research report dated Dec 8 assigned it a target price of $19.80.
UOB rose as high as $34.88, before closing at $34.75. DBS Group Research assigned it a target price of $33.90.
Singtel was the worst-performing blue-chip stock, falling 2.4 per cent or 11 cents to $4.56. THE BUSINESS TIMES
