Singapore shares close 1.28% down on Thursday

SINGAPORE stocks finished 1.3 per cent lower on Thursday, with the Straits Times Index sliding 42.69 points to 3,286.32.

Losers outnumbered gainers 265 to 124, or about two down for every one up, as 1.84 billion shares worth S$1.23 billion in total changed hands.

The most actively traded counter was Ezion with turnover of 77.82 million shares, falling 0.5 Singapore cent to 7.4 Singapore cents. Other actives included Genting Singapore with 30.26 million shares traded, down 0.79 per cent to S$1.26 and Singtel, with 18.57 million shares traded, down 0.31 per cent to S$3.21.

All three local banks ended Thursday in the red. OCBC Bank slipped 2.24 per cent, or 26 Singapore cents, to S$11.34, while UOB retreated 2.05 per cent, or 56 Singapore cents, to S$26.70. DBS, which announced its second-quarter results today, ended the day at S$26.50, down by 1.63 per cent or 44 Singapore cents.