Singapore stocks: STI resumes Wednesday afternoon down 0.64% on day

SINGAPORE stocks resumed trading on Wednesday afternoon weaker, with the Straits Times Index down 0.64 per cent or 20.88 points to 3,246.92 on the day as at 1.04pm, as Asian markets continued to tread in negative territory.

On the Singapore bourse, decliners outnumbered advancers 206 to 131, after about 857.6 million securities worth S$509.7 million changed hands.

Among the most heavily traded by volume, Jiutian Chemical was up 5.9 per cent, or 0.1 Singapore cent to 1.8 cents, with 37.3 million shares traded, while Rex International lost 1.6 per cent, or 0.3 Singapore cent to 18.6 cents, with 25.2 million shares traded.

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust units slid S$0.05 or 4.1 per cent to S$1.17 on news its Festival Walk property in Hong Kong had sustained "extensive damage" due to various incidents related to the pro-democracy protests on Tuesday night.

Banking stocks also faltered by the afternoon trade - DBS dipped 0.7 per cent, or 18 Singapore cents to S$26.55 on a cum dividend basis, UOB lost 0.8 per cent, or 21 cents to S$26.81, and OCBC slipped 0.7 per cent, or eight cents to S$11.09.

Other active securities included Singtel which fell 1.8 per cent or six Singapore cents to S$3.29, and Wilmar International which was up 3.1 per cent, or 12 cents to S$3.97.

SATS was 2.4 per cent or 12 Singapore cents lower at S$4.97 on a cum dividend basis, on news that it posted a 7.6 per cent drop in net profit for the second quarter ended Sept 30, on lower cargo volumes and investments in growth initiatives.

Asian markets continued to trade weaker amidst US-China trade war uncertainty after US President Donald Trump failed to give investors enough reassurance over the progress of the China trade talks.

Tokyo ended the morning session 0.9 per cent lower, while Shanghai and Sydney each fell 0.5 per cent. Seoul dropped one per cent and Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also down. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also tumbled more than two per cent in early trade.

KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE

BT is now on Telegram!

For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes