Singapore shares fall, tracking retreat in regional markets; STI down 0.6%

[SINGAPORE] Shares on the Singapore bourse closed lower on Friday (Oct 17), tracking declines across major regional markets.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent, or 27.27 points, to 4,328.93. Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 446 to 186, with 1.5 billion securities traded and total turnover at S$1.6 billion.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust was the top gainer on the STI, rising 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 to S$2.38.

Genting Singapore was the most actively traded counter by volume, with 50.6 million shares worth S$36.7 million changing hands. The stock closed unchanged at S$0.725.

UOL Group was the day’s biggest decliner, slipping 2.5 per cent or S$0.20 to S$7.87.

All three local banks ended lower. DBS dipped 1 per cent or S$0.51 to S$52, OCBC fell 0.5 per cent or S$0.08 to S$16.73, and UOB lost 0.8 per cent or S$0.28 to reach S$34.30.

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Singapore’s latest trade data released on Friday showed that non-oil domestic exports rose 6.9 per cent year on year in September, reversing from an upwardly revised 11.5 per cent drop in August.

The rebound defied expectations. Private-sector economists polled by Bloomberg had projected a 2.1 per cent decline. Even so, economists cautioned that export momentum could soften in the remaining months of the year.

Elsewhere in Asia, key indices also ended lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.5 per cent or 641.41 points to 25,247.1, and Shanghai’s Composite Index dropped 2 per cent or 76.47 points to 3,839.76.

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Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.4 per cent or 695.59 points to 47,582.15, and Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.3 per cent or 5.11 points to 1,607.18.