Singapore shares end flat on Friday, STI up 0.1% on the week

ON Friday, markets in Asia took to news that China assured it will prop up slowing economic growth with fiscal stimulus, and progress on trade talks between the US and China had been made.  

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) added 2.26 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 3,200.18. It started strong on Friday before spending the closing hours of the session treading around Thursday's closing. On the week, the blue-chip index gained 4.31 points or 0.1 per cent from last Friday's close of 3,195.87. 

Trading on the Singapore bourse clocked in at 1.59 billion securities worth S$1.82 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners 206 to 169. 

Thomson Medical Group was the bourse's most active counter with 166.6 million shares traded. Shares in the medical group finished 0.1 Singapore cent or 1.3 per cent higher at eight Singapore cents. 

Seventeen of the STI's 30 constituents ended the day in the red. Among them, ThaiBev was the blue-chip index's most traded for the second session running. The counter ended the session 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.6 per cent down at 81.5 Singapore cents with 39.4 million shares changing hands.

Going by value of trades done, DBS Group Holdings' counter saw S$131.94 million traded - 7.2 per cent of the bourse's value of securities traded - across 5.23 million shares. The bank's shares added four Singapore cents or 0.2 per cent to close at S$25.14.

The other local banks also gained on the day. OCBC Bank closed nine Singapore cents or 0.8 per cent higher at S$11.13, while United Overseas Bank added S$0.19 or 0.8 per cent to end at S$25.24.

Following Moody's downgrade on outlook and a possible rating downgrade by S&P, Singtel stock dipped. But it has rallied from Tuesday, with the telco adding to previous days' gains to end the day four Singapore cents or 1.3 per cent up at S$3.03. It has gained 3.1 per cent on the week. 

Bourse operator Singapore Exchange, which had seen its stock slide by 6.9 per cent during the first three days of the week, continued to recover, adding to Thursday's gains to close five Singapore cents or 0.7 per cent up at S$7.31.