Singapore stocks close mixed in quiet trading

With Greece on hold for now - at least until the country's parliament sits on Wednesday to decide whether to accept the austerity demanded by the country's creditors - trading in the local market slipped back to mixed and quiet session focused mainly on penny stocks.

The Straits Times Index initially rose sharply, possibly thanks to leftover momentum from Friday and Monday's relief rallies, but gains were reversed in the afternoon as the index drifted to 3,316.5 for a nett gain of 5.28 on the day.

Turnover, which has fluctuated around the S$1 billion mark for the past week, amounted to a low 1.2 billion units worth S$892 million. Excluding warrants, there were 222 rises versus 216 falls.

Singtel was the biggest index mover, its S$0.05 drop to S$4.32 on volume of 16.8 million cutting around 5 points off the STI. DBS Bank provided the largest support with a S$0.10 rise to S$21.05 which came with 3.4 million done.

Among the day's actives was petrochemical firm CEFC International, whose share shot up 76.5 per cent on Monday, prompting a query from the Singapore Exchange. The company replied drawing attention to its July 7 announcement entitled "Discussions on Potential Joint Ventures", adding it is also evaluating fund raising options.

However, it said these are very much still in the "exploration and preliminary stages" and may not materialise. The counter on Tuesday added S$0.002 at S$0.062 on volume of 38.9 million.

The actives list was headed by New Silkroutes Group, formerly known as Digiland International. The counter doubled from S$0.001 to S$0.002 on volume of 118.5 million. Other actives included Ezra Holdings, IHC and Debao Property.