Singapore stocks close lower on Monday; STI down 0.8%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) ended 24.49 points or 0.8 per cent lower at 3,074.31 points amid cautious trading on Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 319 to 173 for the day, with 1.38 billion shares worth S$1.02 billion changing hands.

Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley noted jitters across Asian equity markets on news that China's government intends to break up Alipay, owned by Ant Group.

"Typhoons and the Ant Financial break up story are weighing on China markets today ... Buying the dip in China equities in this environment remains akin to catching a very sharp falling knife," he said.

The sole advancer among the index's constituents was City Developments (CDL), which announced on Friday that it had exited its investment in China-based Sincere Property Group. Shares of CDL closed 5.4 per cent or S$0.36 higher at S$7.03.

At the bottom of the STI's performance table were Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (YZJ) and Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLCT). Shares of YZJ closed 3.1 per cent or S$0.05 lower at S$1.56, while FLCT units ended 2.7 per cent or S$0.04 down at S$1.46.

International Cement Group (ICG) was one of the most heavily traded counters on Monday. ICG closed 3 per cent or 0.1 Singapore cent higher at 3.4 cents, after 65.2 million shares changed hands.

The trio of local banks also closed lower on Monday. DBS was down 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 at S$30.29, OCBC shed 1.1 per cent or S$0.13 to close at S$11.63, while UOB ended 0.7 per cent or S$0.17 lower at S$25.57.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed. The Hang Seng Index sank 1.5 per cent or 392.10 points to 25,813.81 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index closed 0.4 per cent or 5.84 points lower at 1,570.13. But the Nikkei 225 Index advanced 0.2 per cent or 65.53 points to end at 30,447.37 and the Kospi ended up 2.1 points or 0.1 per cent at 3,127.86.