Singapore stocks: STI resumes Friday afternoon up 0.07%

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading in positive territory on Friday afternoon, with the benchmark Straits Times Index eking out a 0.07 per cent, or 2.08 points gain to 3,176.27 as at 1.01pm.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 140 to 132, after about 465 million shares worth S$424.1 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Golden Agri-Resources shed 2.2 per cent, or 0.5 cent to 22.5 Singapore cents, with 43.5 million shares traded, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slipped 0.9 per cent, or one cent to S$1.09, with 18.8 million shares traded.

Financials however, faltered by the afternoon trade. OCBC declined 0.2 per cent, or two cents to S$10.63, DBS fell 0.1 per cent, or three cents to S$24.98, while United Overseas Bank was down 0.2 per cent, or four cents to S$25.37.

Other active stocks included Manulife US Reit which gained 1.5 per cent, or 1.5 US cents to 99.5 US cents, and Venture Corp which added 0.7 per cent, or 11 cents to S$15.91.

With effect from Dec 23, Manulife US Reit will be included in the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Developed Index, its manager announced in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Separately, Lendlease Global Commercial Reit gained 0.5 per cent, or 0.5 cent to 92.5 Singapore cents. This comes after DBS Group Research initiated coverage on the counter with a "buy" call and a 12-month target price of S$1.05. This price target represents a 14 per cent upside from the counter's Dec 5 close of 92 Singapore cents.