Singapore shares end flat, Noble resumes trading lower

SINGAPORE shares ended on Friday flat to a tad weaker, as investors took profit ahead of the weekend and US President Donald Trump's address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3,567.14, down 5.48 points, or 0.15 per cent.

A total of 1.6 billion shares, worth S$1.2 billion, changed hands, with 224 gainers outpacing 217 losers.

DBS Group Holdings was a big drag on the STI, ending at S$26.58 a share, down 19 Singapore cents, or 0.71 per cent, on 4.9 million shares traded.

Noble Group - whose shares were trading around 30.5 Singapore cents each before trading was halted on Thursday - resumed trading lower. Noble clarified that it had not concluded any agreement for its debt restructuring or the sale of a controlling interest or parts of its business to a strategic investor or investors. The stock ended at 26 Singapore cents, down 4.5 Singapore cents, or almost 15 per cent. More than 32 million shares changed hands.

Keppel bucked the general trend, and ended slightly higher despite its weaker than expected results following provisions made for a hefty fine related to its operations in Brazil. The stock ended at S$8.63, up five Singapore cents.