STI ends lower for the week, down 0.06%

SINGAPORE shares ended the week lower despite a positive Wall Street session that was boosted by gains in big technology stocks at the expense of cyclicals.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ended Friday 0.06 per cent or 1.86 points lower at 3,184.54.

Key regional markets were a mixed bag. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.07 per cent, Seoul's Kospi fell 0.36 per cent while the Jakarta Composite Index was down 0.02 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 0.61 per cent.

Said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda: "Fed chairman Jerome Powell stayed solidly on message overnight, emphasising once again the Fed's priority in assisting the US employment recovery while dismissing inflation concerns as transitory."

Still, Asian markets are "once again adopting a more cautious posture" as cyclicals underperformed overnight in New York, he added.

Across the Singapore market, decliners outpaced advancers 247 to 227, with 1.69 billion shares worth S$1.04 billion changing hands.

At the top of the blue-chip index was ST Engineering, with shares up 2.3 per cent or S$0.09 to S$3.99. JPMorgan said in a Thursday report that it would be moving ST Engineering to an "overweight" rating with a December 2021 price target of S$4.80.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the worst-performing on the STI, slipping 1.5 per cent or S$0.02 to S$1.29.

The most heavily traded stock by volume on the index was Thai Beverage, which ended 0.7 per cent or half a Singapore cent lower at S$0.77 after some 28.1 million shares changed hands.

Outside the STI, investment holding company Mercurius Capital Investment saw heavy trading after the Catalist-listed firm proposed to acquire 10 grocery businesses in Malaysia for S$36 million. Shares of Mercurius climbed 7.7 per cent or half a Singapore cent to seven cents after over 135.2 million shares changed hands.

Likewise, mining company BlackGold Natural Resources shares rallied and on heavy volume, following its proposed acquisition of Tengri Coal and Energy for S$1 billion. Its shares soared 12.5 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 1.8 cents with over 74.2 million shares changing hands.