Singapore stocks: STI resumes Friday afternoon at 3,112.86, down 0.42% on day

SINGAPORE stocks turned negative along with most other Asian markets as trading resumed on Friday afternoon following downbeat third-quarter GDP data from China.

The Straits Times Index dropped 0.42 per cent or 13.28 points to 3,112.86 as at 1.04pm.

Losers beat gainers 152 to 116, after 411.6 million securities worth S$355.9 million changed hands.

Rex International remained the most traded stock on Friday, up S$0.001 or 1.1 per cent to S$0.089 with 27.9 million shares traded.

Genting Singapore was down S$0.01 or 1.1 per cent to S$0.915 after 15.7 million shares changed hands.

Keppel Corp fell S$0.13 or 2.2 per cent to S$5.83 after announcing on Thursday that third-quarter net profit fell 30 per cent to S$159 million from a restated S$227 million a year ago amid the absence of divestment gains.

SPH shares remained unchanged at S$2.13. It announced on Thursday a 5 per cent cut to staff from its media group as it posted a 23.4 per cent decline in net profit to S$213 million for the full year ended Aug 31.

Among local lenders, DBS was down S$0.20 or 0.8 per cent to S$24.74, UOB dropped S$0.17 or 0.7 per cent to S$25.85, and OCBC lost S$0.13 or 1.2 per cent to S$10.72.

Asian stocks stumbled on Friday after China posted its weakest growth in nearly three decades, countering a global lift in sentiment on the UK and European Union striking a long-awaited Brexit deal.

China's economy grew 6 per cent in the third quarter, less than expected, and the weakest pace in at least 27½ years, as the US-China trade war hit demand at home and abroad.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.17 per cent by 11.50am SGT, erasing earlier small gains. Australian shares dropped 0.61 per cent and Chinese blue-chips were off 0.65 per cent.

In contrast, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 benchmark index was up 0.2 per cent as Japan's core inflation slowed to near two and a half year lows in September, raising expectations that the Bank of Japan could add to its already massive monetary stimulus.