Singapore stocks close lower on Thursday; STI down 0.4%

THE Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.4 per cent or 11.38 points to close at 3,126.64 points on Thursday (Dec 30), in line with most key Asian markets.

Japan's Nikkei, South Korea's Kospi and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ended between 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent lower while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up 0.1 per cent.

"It appears that some pre-New Year's Eve book squaring is weighing on some markets," said Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley. "Most price action needs to be taken with a grain of salt at this time of the year, but the Omicron rear-view mirror trade appears to be favouring value over growth right now."

In the wider Singapore market, losers outnumbered gainers 222 to 201, with 793.3 million shares worth S$508.1 million changing hands.

The top performer on the STI was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which rose 1.5 per cent or S$0.02 to close at S$1.35. The counter was 1 of only 4 STI constituents that registered gains on Thursday.

At the bottom of the table was Genting Singapore, which fell 1.3 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.775.

Singtel was the most heavily traded blue-chip counter for the day, with 16.6 million shares traded. The counter closed 0.4 per cent or S$0.01 lower at S$2.32.

In the broader Singapore market, digital security firm Disa saw the highest trading volume, closing flat at S$0.006 after 85.2 million shares changed hands.

The trio of local lenders also ended lower. DBS fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.12 to S$32.66, UOB dipped 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$27.00 and OCBC dropped 0.5 per cent or S$0.06 to S$11.38.