STI loses steam, down 0.45%; Asian bourses mixed

SINGAPORE shares opened higher on Monday, tracking Wall Street's gains last Friday. But the blue-chip gauge Straits Times Index (STI) quickly lost steam and drifted lower, ending May's last trading day by shedding 14.22 points or 0.45 per cent to 3,164.28 points.

For the month in which investors espouse "sell in May and go away", the benchmark was 1.68 per cent lower month-on-month.

Catalist-listed Union Gas rose 8.57 per cent to S$0.95 on Monday, making it one of the hot stocks. But the "unusual price movements" have elicited a query from bourse operator, Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The provider of fuel products in Singapore replied that it was not aware of any information not announced that might explain the spike in price.

Sembcorp Marine, with a trading volume of 90.7 million shares, was the most active counter. Shares of the offshore and marine player were flat at S$0.20 when market closed.

The local banking trio traded lower with DBS shedding 1.25 per cent to S$30.03, OCBC 1.12 per cent lower at S$12.36 and UOB declining 0.80 per cent to S$26.07.

Data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Monday showed that total business loans in Singapore came in near flat at S$427.69 billion in April after four straight months of steady growth. This comes amid noticeable softness in loan demand from manufacturing, transport, storage and communication, and business services industries in April.

Gainers outpaced losers 265 to 224 in the broader market, with 1.63 billion securities worth S$1.20 billion transacted.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mixed, with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to plague some countries and causing jitters in the stock markets as flare-ups were reported.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.25 per cent to 7,161.63 points, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index was 0.99 per cent lower at 28,860.08 points. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite dropped 0.68 per cent to 1,583.55 points.

The Shanghai Composite Index was 0.41 per cent higher at 3,615.48 points; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up 0.09 per cent to 29,151.80 points. South Korea's Kospi Index was 0.48 per cent higher at 3,203.92 points.