THE Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 11.71 points to close at 3,286.12 points on Wednesday (Apr 12), as key markets across Asia saw mixed trading.

The Shanghai Composite Index, South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose between 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell between 0.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent.

In the wider Singapore market, losers edged out gainers 282 to 260, with 1.2 billion securities worth S$870.2 million traded.

“The jury is still out as one of the most challenging aspects of navigating this so-called bear market and the widely anticipated coming recession is the disparity between soft and hard economic variables that are like nothing in recent decades,” said SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes.

Hongkong Land : H78 0% was the biggest winner on Singapore’s blue-chip index, gaining 1.9 per cent or US$0.08 to finish at US$4.38.

There were only five gainers among the STI stocks on Wednesday. The other four winners on the index were Singapore Exchange : S68 0%, and Hongkong Land’s fellow members of the Jardine Matheson Group – DFI Retail Group : D01 0%, Jardine Matheson Holdings : J36 0% and Jardine Cycle & Carriage : C07 0%.

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At the bottom of the table was Sembcorp Industries : U96 0%, which fell 2.3 per cent or S$0.10 to S$4.23.

Genting Singapore : G13 0% was the most actively traded constituent stock. The integrated resort operator closed flat at S$1.16 after 28.7 million shares changed hands.

The trio of local banks all finished lower. DBS : D05 0% lost 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 to close at S$32.32, UOB : U11 0% fell 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$30.01, and OCBC : O39 0% dropped 0.4 per cent or S$0.05 to S$12.74.