SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore shares opened flat on Monday after slowing services sector growth in China raised concerns over the pace of recovery in the world's second-largest economy.
The benchmark Straits Times Index had barely moved at 3,130.88 by midday, trading in thin volume, while the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6 per cent.
The top two performers on the index, Global Logistic Properties and CapitaMall Trust, rose as much as 1.7 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively, their biggest daily gains in more than three weeks.
Shares of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell for a third consecutive session after the bank began exclusive talks to buy Hong Kong's Wing Hang Bank on Friday, dropping as much as 1.9 per cent to a more than three-week low at $9.83.
In a strategic report for the year ahead, Maybank Kim Eng advises investors to stay selective, recommending aviation services, banks, healthcare and offshore and marine as preferred sectors.
