Singapore shares resume fall on Thursday afternoon; STI sheds 3.8%

SINGAPORE shares remained firmly in the red as trading resumed on Thursday afternoon, with the Straits Times Index down 3.8 per cent or 104.35 points on the day to 2,679.37 as at 1.33pm.

Losers outnumbered gainers 414 to 80, with 1.06 billion securities worth S$1.30 billion changing hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Rex International fell 1.1 Singapore cents or 8 per cent to 12.6 cents with 45.7 million shares traded.

Medtecs International was a notable gainer in a sea of red. Shares of the healthcare company traded up 0.6 Singapore cent or 7.7 per cent to 8.4 cents with 44.6 million shares changing hands.

Meanwhile, Keppel Infrastructure Trust was down 3.5 Singapore cents or 6.9 per cent to 47.5 cents with 32 million units traded.

Singtel was one of the most traded by value, losing S$0.06 or 2.1 per cent to S$2.76.

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Banking stocks, trading on a cum-dividend basis, fell more than 3 per cent. DBS tumbled S$0.73 or 3.5 per cent to S$20.28, UOB fell S$0.78 or 3.7 per cent to S$20.59 while OCBC lost S$0.35 or 3.7 per cent to S$9.15.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index dived 1,003.85 points or 5.1 per cent to 18,412.21 and South Korea's Kospi index sank 83.44 points or 4.3 per cent to 1,824.83.

Meanwhile, losses in Greater China markets were not as steep but still sizeable. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 935.17 points or 3.7 per cent to 24,297.62, and the Shanghai Composite lost 58.81 points or 2 per cent to 2,909.70.