Singapore shares fall 0.8% even as Q3 GDP growth beats forecast
Genting Singapore is the STI’s top gainer, rising 1.4% to S$0.72
[SINGAPORE] Shares on the Singapore bourse closed lower on Tuesday (Oct 14), even as the city-state’s economy grew faster than expected.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.8 per cent, or 35.32 points, to 4,354.52. Decliners outnumbered advancers 430 to 221 in the broader market, with 1.9 billion shares traded and total turnover at S$2 billion.
Resorts operator Genting Singapore was the STI’s top gainer, rising 1.4 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.725.
The previous day, its Malaysia-listed parent Genting Bhd unveiled a RM6.7 billion (S$2.1 billion) proposal to buy out the minority shareholders of Genting Malaysia.
Genting Singapore was also the most actively traded STI counter by volume, with 78.5 million shares worth S$56.8 million changing hands.
The biggest decliner was Seatrium, which fell 4.5 per cent or S$0.10 to S$2.12. The offshore and marine giant’s share price has dropped 14.2 per cent over the past five days, following news on Oct 10 of a US$475 million contract termination.
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Share price movements among the three local banks were mixed. OCBC rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$16.78, while DBS slipped 1.4 per cent or S$0.75 to S$52.65, and UOB lost 0.4 per cent or S$0.14 to S$34.79.
Separately, Singapore’s GDP for the third quarter grew 2.9 per cent year on year, beating the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 2 per cent. On the same day, the Monetary Authority of Singapore left its monetary policy settings unchanged for a second straight meeting, after earlier easing in January and April this year.
Elsewhere in Asia, key indices also ended lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.7 per cent or 448.13 points to 25,441.35, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.6 per cent or 24.27 points to 3,865.23.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.6 per cent or 1,241.48 points to 46,847.32, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 0.2 per cent or 3.73 points to 1,611.46.
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