Singapore stocks close flat amid mixed regional trading

SINGAPORE stocks closed flat on Thursday (May 9) amid mixed trading in the region.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rose 1.42 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 3,265.95.

Elsewhere in the region, key indices in Australia, Japan and South Korea ended in the red, while the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closed higher, following mixed overnight trading on Wall Street.

“Macro and earnings catalysts are starting to thin out, and focus remains on Fed speakers,” said Charu Chanana, head of FX strategy at Saxo.

She noted that disappointing revenue guidance from chip designer ARM in the US was having a ripple effect on other chipmaker stocks.

On the local bourse, shares of semiconductor company AEM saw heavy losses, falling 12.9 per cent to close at S$2.02. The group reported on Wednesday an 85 per cent drop in net profit for its first quarter ended March.

UOB led the STI gainers, climbing 1.6 per cent to close at S$30.35. OCBC shares also closed higher, climbing 1.2 per cent, but DBS , which was trading ex-dividend fell 1.2 per cent to S$35.28.

Wilmar International was the top STI decliner for the day, slipping 1.2 per cent to close at S$3.17.

Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 300 to 264 after 942.2 million securities worth S$1.1 billion were traded.

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Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was among the most actively traded stocks by both volume and value, with 25.4 million shares worth S$43.8 million changing hands. The counter rose 0.6 per cent to close at S$1.72.