Singapore shares close up 0.15%

SHARE prices in the Singapore bourse rose modestly with the key Straits Times Index finishing at 3,441.69 - 5.32 points or 0.15 per cent higher.  

Turnover came in at 1.77 billion shares worth S$967.7 million versus last Friday's 2.02 billion shares worth S$1.13 billion.

Losers outpaced gainers with 224 counters down and 156 counters up.  

Trading sentiment remained cautious as global trade fears were renewed following the Group of Seven meeting over the weekend which underscored the divisions between the US and its allies.

The historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday - regarded as a "major event for financial markets" - will be closely monitored by investors.

If the summit ends with encouraging signs of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula and a formal end of the Korean War, it would remove a huge overhang of a key geopolitical threat that has loomed over markets for many years and will bring cheer to financial markets, say analysts.

Sometime mid-week, market attention will likely shift to the US Federal Open Market Committee and European Central Bank meetings. A rate hike out of the US is widely expected while ING's research head and chief economist for Asia-Pacific, Rob Carnell, deems the ECB meeting a "little more nuanced", hence it is less clear on what will be announced.