Singapore market bucks upbeat regional trend to close lower

SINGAPORE shares bucked the rising tide in Asia bourses as the Straits Times Index closed at 3,087.56 points, down 0.49 per cent or 15.19 points on Monday.

This was despite the benchmark edging up in early morning trade against a backdrop of Wall Street and European markets gains last Friday.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) dipped by 4.37 per cent to S$10.29 at the closing bell, recovering some lost ground from early morning trade. The counter plunged on the announcement that the Hong Kong Exchange would launch its first derivatives product based on onshore Chinese shares.

The offering could help resolve a major issue for international institutions investing in China, but research house CGS-CIMB said the launch is a "key competitive risk" to SGX's FTSE China A50 Futures product.

Nanofilm Technologies, after an investor relations exercise to restore investors' confidence and a series of share buybacks following losing a third of its market value last week, rose 3.76 per cent to S$4.14. Analysts had downgraded the stock on the firm's disappointing financial results and leadership uncertainty.

Sembcorp Marine closed as the most heavily traded stock with over 111.8 million shares changing hands, as its shareholders approved the controversial

S$1.5 billion rights issue at the extraordinary general meeting on Monday. The stock price was up 3.88 per cent at S$0.11 when the market closed.

Gainers trailed losers 209 to 262 on the broader market, amid a turnover of 1.33 billion securities worth S$1.21 billion.

Other Asian markets had better luck. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.39 per cent higher at 7,489.93 points; Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.78 per cent to 27,494.24 points. The Shanghai Composite Index soared 1.45 per cent to 3,477.13 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.05 per cent to 25,109.59 points. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.97 per cent to 3,090.21 points. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed 0.29 per cent higher at 1,522.43 points.

For full listings of SGX prices, go to https://www2.sgx.com/