Singapore stocks: STI resumes Wednesday afternoon at 3,295.79, down 0.26% on day

SINGAPORE stocks edged down as trading resumed on Wednesday afternoon, with the Straits Times Index dipping 0.26 per cent or 8.48 points to 3,295.79 as at 1.04pm, in line with most Asian markets during morning trade.

Losers outnumbered gainers 169 to 119, or about seven securities down for every five up, after 510.8 million securities worth S$497.0 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Sino Grandness Food Industry Group rose 38.1 per cent or S$0.016 to S$0.058 with 66.8 million shares traded. Singtel moved down 0.6 per cent or S$0.02 to S$3.46 with 25.6 million shares traded. Thai Beverage Public Co rose 0.6 per cent or S$0.005 to S$0.84 with 15.5 million shares traded.

Active index stocks included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings, down 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 to S$1.51; and Venture Corp, down 3.5 per cent or S$0.58 to S$15.88.

Finance stocks drew a mixed performance, with DBS Group Holdings down 0.4 per cent or S$0.11 to S$25.49; United Overseas Bank up 0.4 per cent or S$0.09 to S$25.79; and OCBC Bank unchanged at S$11.25.

Other Asian markets were mostly down after the US Federal Reserve tempered expectations of aggressive US interest rate cuts and with investors cautious ahead of the key meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 meeting on Saturday.

Japan's Nikkei index retreated 0.6 per cent, the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.25 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 per cent. South Korea's Kospi index inched up 0.2 per cent while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index dipped 0.1 per cent.