Singapore shares close lower as Huawei CFO arrest dents sentiment

SINGAPORE shares closed lower on Thursday as the arrest of Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer for alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran threatened to send already fragile relations between Washington and Beijing further south.

The Straits Times Index closed 40.4 points or 1.3 per cent lower at 3,115.52.

About 1.28 billion shares worth S$860 million in total changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$0.67 per share. 

Losers outnumbered gainers 245 to 151.

The most actively traded stock was Ezion Holdings, which fell S$0.005 to S$0.056 with 78.4 million shares changing hands.

Other actives included MMP Resources and Rich Capital. 

Among financials, DBS closed S$0.51 lower at S$24.14, OCBC dropped S$0.18 to S$11.31 and UOB shed S$0.72 to close at S$25.02.  

Among other active index stocks, shares in telco Singtel closed flat at S$3.08.