STI edges down despite modest gains on Wall Street

Singapore stocks fell on Monday despite Wall Street's modest gains last Friday.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) moved down 0.05 per cent to 3,096.4.

Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 273 to 233 after 1.02 billion securities worth $813.5 million changed hands.

Major indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia fared worse, falling between 0.6 per cent and 2 per cent.

However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index bucked the Asian trend, closing up 0.4 per cent.

Despite Nasdaq's 1.4 per cent bounce last Friday, Mizuho Bank's head of economics and strategy Vishnu Varathan said it "may not be wise to imagine that markets are out of the wood" as United States equities are down about 4.8 per cent to 5.8 per cent.

IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong added that some caution remains as there is, for now, "no clear catalyst" that is likely to drive a sustained recovery in risk sentiments.

Among STI constituents, diversified business group Jardine Matheson Holdings was the biggest gainer, closing 1.9 per cent higher at US$51.

Trailing behind is property developer UOL, which closed up 1.8 per cent at $7.24. Finishing at the bottom of the STI performance table were Hongkong Land, which shed 3.6 per cent to close at US$4.82, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which lost 2.5 per cent to close at 96.5 cents.

The local banks closed mixed; DBS and UOB rose 0.07 per cent and 0.04 per cent respectively to end at $29.91 and $26.84, while OCBC fell 0.2 per cent to $11.40.

In the broader market, the most actively traded counter by volume was Sembcorp Marine, which closed down 3.7 per cent at 10.5 cents after some 67.9 million of its shares worth $7.2 million changed hands.