Singapore stocks: STI resumes Friday afternoon trading down 0.38% on day

SINGAPORE shares resumed trading in negative territory on Friday, with the Straits Times Index slipping 0.38 per cent, or 12.32 points to 3,188.29 as at 1.01pm.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 145 to 125, after about 533.9 million shares worth S$679.9 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Golden Agri-Resources gained 2.38 per cent, or 0.5 cent to 21.5 Singapore cents, with 38.5 million shares traded, while Singtel was up 0.3 per cent, or one cent to S$3.35 on a cum-dividend basis, with 24.8 million shares traded.

Banking stocks however, faltered by the afternoon trade. DBS shed 1.14 per cent, or 29 Singapore cents to S$25.24, OCBC Bank lost 1.11 per cent, or 12 cents to S$10.74, and United Overseas Bank edged 1 per cent, or 26 cents lower to S$25.75.

Also weighing on the benchmark index were Jardine Cycle & Carriage which dipped 1.41 per cent, or 44 cents to S$30.68, and ST Engineering which fell 1.2 per cent, or five cents to S$4.12.

Other active stocks included AEM Holdings which shot up 5.26 per cent, or nine cents to S$1.80. This comes after DBS Group Research on Friday said it has initiated coverage on the company with a "buy" call, and a 12-month price target of S$2.38. The target price represents a 39 per cent upside from the counter's close of S$1.71 on Nov 28.

Meanwhile, Thai Beverage jumped 4.05 per cent, or 3.5 Singapore cents to 90 cents on a cum-dividend basis. Some 24 million shares changed hands, prompting a query from the Singapore Exchange regarding its "unusual volume movements".

Thai Bev is considering an initial public offering of its brewery business in what could be the largest listing in Singapore in close to a decade, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

"The acquisitive drinks maker controlled by Thailand's richest man is speaking with potential advisers about the listing, and may seek to value the unit at as much as US$10 billion," Bloomberg reported.