STI takes a dip with looming trade storm

ASIAN stock markets swam in a sea of red on Monday as investors fretted over gathering economic and political storm clouds across the world. In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) closed lower by 29.76 points or 0.9 per cent to 3,238.94.

Real estate service group PropNex made its trading debut on the main board of the Singapore Exchange at 68.5 Singapore cents apiece, with the price a 5.38 per cent premium over the homegrown group's initial public offering price (IPO) price of 65 Singapore cents. The counter advanced 10 per cent to close at 71.5 Singapore cents on its debut.

With a market capitalisation of some S$240 million, PropNex's listing will boost SGX's real estate cluster to a total of 110 listings with combined market capitalisation of about S$179 billion, the bourse wrote in a media release.