Singapore shares close weaker but display resilience in face of China sell-off

THE Straits Times Index on Monday proved resilient when it only lost 3.94 points to 2,952.19 in the face of heavy selling in China where the Shanghai Composite plunged 2.5 per cent after regulators moved to curb insurance companies' stock market activities.

Over in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index lost 1.4 per cent while the Shenzhen Index crashed almost 5 per cent.

Wire reports also attributed the pressure in China to concerns over the country's property market. Whatever the case, the STI spent virtually the whole session in the red though at its worst the index lost only about 19 points before a last-minute push enabled it to close with only a minimal loss.

The broad market excluding warrants chalked up 197 rises versus 237 falls. Turnover amounted to 2.7 billion units worth S$1.25 billion.