Singapore shares end 0.14% lower on Monday

AFTER ending last Friday broadly lower, markets in Asia traded mixed on Monday as investors were cautiously optimistic that US-China will work out a trade deal, and Chinese officials boosted sentiment in North Asia that policy support would lift a slowing economy.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) dropped 4.45 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 3,191.42.

Trading on the Singapore bourse clocked in at a muted 952.52 million securities worth S$792.81 million. Decliners outnumbered advancers 234 to 168.

In a muted session, Hi-P International was the bourse's most traded with 27.9 million shares traded. Shares in the contract manufacturer shares finished S$0.17 or 11 per cent up at S$1.72 with the total value of the trades at clocking in at roughly S$46.1 million.

Sixteen of the STI's 30 constituents ended the day in the black. Among them, food and beverage player ThaiBev was the blue-chip index's most traded. It ended the session up 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.6 per cent to close at 80 Singapore cents with 17.1 million shares changing hands.

Among financials, DBS Group Holdings closed six Singapore cents or 0.2 per cent higher at S$25.12. However, OCBC Bank dropped two Singapore cents or 0.2 per cent to S$11.03, and United Overseas Bank ended 11 Singapore cents or 0.4 per cent lower at S$24.80.