STI weighed down by Wall Street's decline

Wall Street's decline last Friday set the stage for local investors, who duely took the cue and sent Singapore shares dipping yesterday.

The Straits Times Index (STI) closed down 3.72 points or 0.14 per cent to 2,575.79.

Losers outnumbered gainers 250 to 179 with 1.45 billion shares worth $1.05 billion changing hands.

The biggest loser on the index was property developer Hongkong Land, which fell 2.84 per cent to US$3.77, on market expectations that Hong Kong's new wave of Covid-19 infections could prompt office downsizing in non-core districts and lead to a decline in commercial rents this year.

The next biggest loser was ground-handling firm Sats, down 2.47 per cent to $2.77 amid a bleak outlook for the aviation sector. Bloomberg Intelligence said yesterday that the company's revenue and earnings woes may persist until March next year.

Share purchases by Sats president and chief executive Alexander Hungate and Sats director Tan Soo Nan two weeks ago had bolstered prices for a while but the gains proved to be short-lived.

Gold miners were also the most active counters yesterday.

Monetary and fiscal stimulus by global central banks are driving prices for the metal, which hit new life-time highs of more than US$1,944 an ounce.

Penny stocks in the gold-mining sector, such as Anchor Resources, Wilton Resources, LionGold and CNMC Goldmine, all saw heavy trading. Prices made double-digit gains except for LionGold.

The performance of regional markets tied in with analyst expectations of muted trading, after Wall Street concluded on a weak note last week on the back of renewed United States-China tensions.

The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.41 per cent as the city ramped up containment measures amid a new wave of infections.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.26 per cent, South Korea's Kospi put on 0.79 per cent, while Malaysia's KLCI rose 0.12 per cent.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index closed 0.16 per cent lower, playing catch-up after a four-day weekend.

"There are concerns that the US-China conflict could intensify further via a chain of retaliatory measures," Mr Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a note, adding that resurging coronavirus cases in some US states also weighed on sentiment.