Singapore shares begin afternoon trading on negative ground; STI at 3,409.79

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading on Monday afternoon in negative territory with the Straits Times Index at 3,409.79, down 0.2 per cent, or 7.15 points, on the day as at 1.01pm.

Against the benchmark's level of 3,407.27 heading into the mid-day break, however, the index was just marginally up by 0.07 per cent.

About 663.6 million shares worth S$458.2 million in total changed hands. The field was roughly evenly matched, with 170 gainers to 163 losers.

The most actively traded counter was Rowsley, which rose S$0.014 to S$0.125 with 46.2 million shares changing hands. This comes on the back of news that the company is acquiring Thomson Medical businesses for S$1.6 billion. Other actives included Noble Group and Imperium Crown.

Active index stocks included DBS Group Holdings, up 1.22 per cent or 30 Singapore cents, at S$24.88; and Singtel, down 2.93 per cent or 11 Singapore cents, at S$3.64.