The 30-shares Straits Times Index closed 0.2%, or 5.88
points, lower at 3,050.49. Intraday, the benchmark touched a low of 3,036.68.
It ended the week with a 0.4% loss. Market volume was lower, with 1.22 billion
shares trading hands compared with 1.76 billion on Thursday. Losers outnumbered
gainers 213 to 168.
Asian stocks took their cue from the U.S. , where the
Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest loss in more than a month as
investors grew less sure that a new round of quantitative easing is on the way.
Lim & Tan Securities said in a note that earlier expectations the U.S.
Federal Reserve was preparing to take steps to support the economy have boosted
markets to the point where they are now vulnerable to a setback in the absence
of new Fed moves.
In Singapore, Keppel Corp. was among the worst performers on
the benchmark index, shedding 1.6% to close at S$11.39 as some investors sought
to book profits after a run up in the share price of the world's biggest rig
builder after it announced a slew of orders this month. Smaller rival Sembcorp
Marine closed 0.6% lower at S$5.03, also giving up some of its recent gains.
Olam International shed 1.5% to close at S$2.00 as investors
remained jittery about the commodity supplier's earnings report, due on Tuesday.
Noble Group closed 0.8% lower at S$1.245, while Wilmar International shed 0.6%
to close at S$3.18.
Neptune Orient Lines, whose shares react sharply to
developments in the western economies where the container shipper is most
exposed in its business, fell 1.3% to close at S$1.145.
Fraser & Neave was the top performer on the STI, adding
1.6% to close at S$8.45 after a large chunk of the company's shares traded
hands in a block trade, fuelling speculation Thai Beverage is building up its
stake in the company ahead of the conglomerate's shareholders' vote on
Heineken's offer for Asia Pacific Breweries, the makers of Tiger beer. Asia
Pacific Breweries was flat at S$53.
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