Property counters take a beating amid STI, regional markets' retreat

LOCAL shares fell alongside regional markets on Thursday, following a weaker overnight session in the US. Sentiment took a hit from fears of a novel coronavirus resurgence, and the Philippine central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to a new low to support its domestic economy.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 38.47 points or 1.46 per cent to 2,590.15.

Losers outnumbered gainers 268 to 124, with 1.49 billion securities worth S$1.39 billion traded.

On the index, all the counters fell except for Jardine Matheson Holdings and Jardine Strategic Holdings.

Real estate companies did the worst on Thursday.

Property developer UOL Group fell S$0.20 or 2.86 per cent to S$6.80. This was despite a bullish CGS-CIMB report on Thursday that named the developer among its top picks for its high recurring income base supported by rentals, hotel operations and investment holdings, as well as good office exposure through United Industrial Corp.

Before it fell on Thursday, the stock was trading at a 42 per cent discount to its revalued net asset value.

Jardine Matheson rose US$0.32 or 0.77 per cent to US$41.98. The company has been actively buying back its stock. Meanwhile, shares of Jardine Strategic rose US$0.19 or 0.87 per cent to US$22.15. The two counters tend to move in tandem with each other, due to their cross-shareholding structure.

The most active counter of the day was again Catalist-listed Singapore eDevelopment. It continued its share surge from Wednesday, this time rising 0.8 Singapore cent or 8.7 per cent to S$0.10 on the possible success of Covid-related medical products that its subsidiary had produced. Close to 195 million shares changed hands.

Regional markets mostly fell. The KLCI fell 0.89 per cent, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.22 per cent, the Hang Seng fell 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 per cent.