Singapore shares close mixed

THE Straits Times Index (STI) kicked off the week with a 3.41 point rise to 2,928.76 on Monday, probably influenced by rises in Hong Kong and the Dow futures. Turnover was a respectable 1.4 billion units worth S$1.1 billion, though the broad market, excluding warrants, registered 200 rises versus 222 falls - a more mixed performance than the index's reading might have indicated.

The big news of the day was an announcement by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that it is to set up a subsidiary to house and perform its frontline regulatory functions. Called RegCo, it will have a separate board of directors who will be independent of any listed company. In response to the news, SGX's shares rose S$0.06 to S$7.80 on volume of 1.4 million.

In the second line, shares of precision machine parts maker Innovalues crashed S$0.145 or 14 per cent to S$0.885 on volume of 15.8 million, drawing a query from SGX. The company had not replied by the time that trading ended.

Also queried was beauty products seller Best World International, whose shares collapsed S$0.155 or 10.6 per cent to S$1.31 on volume of 4.6 million. The company made the news last month after its shares quadrupled this year. It had been queried by SGX three times over three months, with a fourth query in June directed at certain items in its latest results.