STI drifts ahead of action-packed Thursday

THE local bourse meandered through all of Tuesday's session in an uninspired fashion, no thanks to Wall Street's lower close and the absence of fresh leads.

The benchmark Straits Times Index finished 2.56 points, or 0.08 per cent, lower at 3,235.75 with some 1.6 billion shares worth S$920 million done.

"The holding pattern for markets could certainly retain slightly longer towards the action-packed Thursday," said IG Singapore's market strategist Jingyi Pan, referring to former FBI director James Comey's testimony before the Senate intelligence committee on whether US President Donald Trump interfered with the Russia probe.

Also coming up on the same day are the UK election and the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting.

Other key regional bourses ended on a mixed note. Japan's Nikkei 225 shed nearly one per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively, while Australia's SDX 200 slipped 1.5 per cent.

US markets took a breather overnight on Monday, with the three key stock indices losing some ground. Recent macro data has not inspired confidence in the world's largest economy with May durable goods numbers coming in mixed to weaker-than-expected and May's non-manufacturing index showing softer-than-expected prints.

"The interesting trend with respect to economic data had been the fact that the markets had not promptly trended alongside data leads," said Ms Pan, referring to last Friday's rally despite disappointing jobs figures and the slight slide in US stocks this week following the release of May's ISM non-manufacturing index's miss.

Similarly, markets in Asia-Pacific have been broadly rising in the past week despite the disappointment in Chinese private PMI numbers.

"Balancing the markets had likely been equal part cautiousness and optimism in the growth momentum, without significant checks in the horizon," she added.

In Singapore, the FTSE ST Mid Cap and FTSE ST Small Cap Indexes both fell 0.3 per cent.

Genting Singapore led the losses, finishing 3 Singapore cents, or 2.5 per cent, lower at S$1.15. SingTel fell 2 Singapore cents, or 0.5 per cent, to S$3.78 while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings retreated 3.5 Singapore cents, or 2.8 per cent, to S$1.24.

Genting and Yangzijiang turned up on the day's top ten most active with some 24 million shares worth S$28 million and 18 million shares worth S$23 million done respectively.

The losses in the three counters shaved off 4.56 points off the STI.

Mandarin Oriental International's share price climbed nearly 10 per cent on intraday trading and finished higher by 7.5 US cents, or 4.4 per cent, at US$1.785.

This followed a day after the hotel arm of Jardine Matheson Group said it was reviewing the long-term strategic options related to The Excelsior in Hong Kong.

Noble Group stock continued to suffer a hammering, falling 0.5 Singapore cent, or 1.6 per cent, to 31.5 Singapore cents.

Bloomberg has reported that the crisis at the group has intensified ahead of a critical funding deadline, with a borrowing base facility due to expire.

Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust gained 1.5 Singapore cents, or 1.5 per cent, to S$1.035.

The trust had announced before market open that it will make its first portfolio acquisition of seven fully leased or precommitted industrial properties in Australia for some A$169.3 million (S$175 million).

For the full listing of SGX prices, go to http://btd.sg/BTmkts