Singapore shares buck regional trend, STI down 0.37%

SINGAPORE shares ended in negative territory on Wednesday as Wall Street retreated from all-time highs, taking a pause from their record rally.

The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 3,195.76 points, down 0.37 per cent or 11.87 points.

Elsewhere in Asia, however, sentiment mostly remained upbeat on continued optimism for global recovery. With the exception of Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index that was down 0.91 per cent after an extended weekend holiday, key benchmark indices in the region ended higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.12 per cent; Seoul's Kospi rose 0.33 per cent while the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.37 per cent.

Axi's chief market strategist Stephen Innes said that the short term momentum appears to remain "in favour of the bulls" as investors bet on an economic rebound over the coming months in light of the robust data in recent weeks.

But even as US equity indices remain resilient around recent record highs, there is a possibility of significant consolidation in stocks as the street starts to factor in growth peaking over the next three months, said Mr Innes.

In Singapore, some 1.92 billion securities worth S$1.46 billion changed hands. Across the market, advancers outpaced decliners 273 to 208.

Among the STI constituents, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the best-performing stock; its shares reversed Tuesday's losses to end 4 per cent or S$0.05 higher at S$1.31. It was once again the most heavily traded counter on the index with over 54.7 million shares changing hands.

The local banks ended the day in the red, with DBS being the worst-performing stock on the blue-chip index. DBS dipped 1.6 per cent or S$0.47 to S$28.83, UOB fell 0.3 per cent or S$0.07 to S$26.01, while OCBC was down 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$11.84.