SINGAPORE - Asian equities, including Singapore shares, closed in the red on Monday, after a weekend of protests across China over restrictive Covid-19 curbs dampened market sentiment.

Singapore’s benchmark of 30 blue-chip stocks, the Straits Times Index (STI), was down in early trading hours but picked up over the day. Still, the index was down 0.1 per cent to 3,240.06 points by the closing bell.

Mr Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, observed in his daily updates that Asian equities fell on Monday after a weekend of protests in China against Covid-zero policies. He said: “Markets do not like the uncertainty the protests present.”

There are also now questions about the future direction of Covid-zero policies in the world’s second-largest economy, and whether additional damage will be done to domestic demand, he said.

Of the 30 stocks, the China-focused ones were among the worst performers, with DFI Retail Group falling 2.5 per cent to US$2.37, Hongkong Land moving 2.2 per cent lower at US$3.93, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding dropping 1.4 per cent to S$1.41.

Precision metal components manufacturer Innotek closed up 7.1 per cent to 45 cents. Research house Lim & Tan Securities made a “buy” recommendation and assigned a target price of 60 cents on Innotek after initiating coverage.

Innotek has $77.4 million in net cash, making its core business and assets “almost free”, said the research team. Apart from allowing Innotek to pay out dividends, the cash pile would also allow it to benefit from a high interest rate environment, yield-curve inversion and short-term fixed deposits.

Across the broad bourse, 316 losers against 234 gainers wrapped up the day’s trading on a turnover of one billion securities worth a total of $889.4 million. THE BUSINESS TIMES