Singapore shares close weaker dragged down by falls in Dow futures, HK, China

TUESDAY'S rise in the Straits Times Index (STI) proved very short-lived as the selling resumed on Wednesday, the index dropping 30.7 points or 1.05 per cent to 2,886.08 for its eighth loss in nine sessions. Weakness in the Dow futures which signalled a soft day for Wall Street on Wednesday combined with pressure in Hong Kong and China to drag prices here lower, resulting in an advance-decline score excluding warrants of 115-271.

Turnover amounted to 973.8 million units worth S$978 million, of which S$631 million or 65 per cent was done in STI members. Stripping out the 30 index components left 760 million units worth S$347 million, for an average of S$0.46 per unit.

DBS Bank was among the larger index losers with a S$0.27 or 1.6 per cent fall to S$16.81 on turnover of 5.5 million.

Macquarie Warrants (MW) in its daily newsletter reported that Macquarie Equities Research (MER) hosted a Q315 post-results lunch with DBS management on Nov 6.

"MER believes the key reasons to buy DBS are (i) good business momentum in a relative context, (ii) relative beneficiary of higher rates given the strong Singapore dollar liquidity position, (iii) potential to lift dividend payout ratios, (iv) potential to shift the strategic focus towards cost efficiency if growth opportunities continue to disappear and (v) optimistic asset quality outlook by management," said MW. "MER has an 'outperform' rating on DBS with a S$20 target price."

In the second line, shares of Linc Energy gained some attention after the company halted trading to announce that a story carried on Business Wire which said Linc has signed an agreement for the sale of its South Australian shale oil assets was not accurate and that Linc has not entered into any such deal at the moment.