Singapore shares slip; STI down 0.4%
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Yong Hui Ting
SINGAPORE shares fell on Thursday (Dec 7), wiping out gains from a day earlier.
The Straits Times Index (STI) slipped 0.4 per cent or 12.98 points to end at 3,074.26. Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 308 to 277, with 888 million securities worth S$1 billion changing hands.
Jardine Matheson stocks declined heavily, with the counter falling 1.2 per cent, or US$0.48, to close the day at US$40.20.
South-east Asia’s largest bank, DBS, also fell, continuing its streak of losses for the week. The banking stock was down nearly 1 per cent or S$0.30 to S$31.18 at the closing bell.
The other two local banks also closed beneath their opening prices. OCBC dipped 0.8 per cent to S$12.51, while UOB slipped 0.4 per cent to S$27.19.
Counters which were most actively traded were Seatrium, Manulife US Real Estate Investment Trust (MUST) and Genting Singapore.
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Shipbuilder Seatrium fell 1 per cent, or S$0.001, to S$0.101 after 141.2 million shares were traded. MUST finished 11.1 per cent lower, down US$0.008 at US$0.064 with 57.5 million units traded. Genting Singapore rose 3.2 per cent, or S$0.03, to S$0.955. Over 54.8 million Genting shares changed hands.
In Hong Kong, the market continued its losing streak. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 per cent to 16,345.89.
Kelvin Wong, Asia-Pacific senior market analyst at Oanda, noted that the persistent weakness seen in the China and Hong Kong stock markets has been primarily driven by structural vulnerabilities due to rising debt risks in major property developers that may trigger a deflationary spiral in China.
He thinks the Hang Seng index now faces a potential major bearish breakdown that may retest the 12,200 level seen in October 2008 during the global financial crisis.
Most other markets also finished in negative territory. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.8 per cent; the ASX 200 dipped 0.07 per cent; the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 0.2 per cent, while the Kospi slipped 0.1 per cent.
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