Geopolitical tensions weigh as Singapore shares lose 1.2% on Thursday

GEOPOLITICAL factors weighed on the minds of investors as the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi was cut short and expectations were scaled back on a US-China trade deal.

Meanwhile, India-Pakistan tensions continue to fester, with key powers urging for calm heads to prevail.

In Singapore, these factors lent their hand in the Straits Times Index dropping 37.33 points or 1.2 per cent to 3,212.69.

Trading on the Singapore bourse clocked in at about 1.38 billion securities worth S$1.53 billion in total changing hands. Losers outnumbered gainers 273 to 166.

Shares in Thomson Medical Group were the bourse's most traded on the day. The counter added 0.1 Singapore cent or 1.3 per cent to close at eight Singapore cents with 85.2 million shares traded.

Among constituents, casino operator Genting Singapore was the blue-chip index's most traded. It ended the session two Singapore cents or 1.9 per cent lower at S$1.02 on 62.1 million shares. Meanwhile, Jardine Cycle & Carriage shares slumped after full-year earnings missed street estimates, closing S$3.29 or 9 per cent lower at S$33.34.

Among financials, DBS Group Holdings closed S$0.31 or 1.2 per cent lower at S$24.84, OCBC Bank dropped S$0.12 or 1.1 per cent to S$11.06, while United Overseas Bank lost S$0.19 or 0.8 per cent to end at S$25.02.