Singapore shares flat on mixed China data

Singapore shares staged a late rally to close flat on Wednesday as the Straits Times Index rose 0.01 point, or 0.0003 per cent, for a 3,447.02 close following uneven economic data in China.

Electronics distributor Polaris led the top movers, gaining 31.3 per cent or half a Singapore cent to close at 2.1 Singapore cents after Japanese telco SoftBank Group became a 19.9 per cent shareholder in Polaris's 44.88 per cent Indonesian associate, Trikomsel.

Mineral and energy resources company Sino Construction improved by 6.4 per cent or 0.3 Singapore cent to head out at 5 Singapore cents. The company announced on March 30 that it was placing out 262 million new shares at 2.48 Singapore cents per share.

A total of 1.2 billion shares worth S$954.5 million changed hands. Losers outnumbered gainers 225 to 195.