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Roundup: Singapore stocks end down 0.19 pct

Xinhua, March 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.19 percent lower on Wednesday, as investors grew cautious ahead of an European Central Bank (ECB) meeting and U.S. data later in the week.

Investors will wait for the ECB meeting, at which policymakers are expected to announce additional details about the bank's massive bond-buying quantitative easing program. The ECB will also release new economic forecasts.

Investors will also watch Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for February, which could indicate the strength of labor conditions and could add to speculation about the timing of the U. S. Federal Reserve's interest rate hike.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 6.58 points to close at 3,415.53 points. Trading volume was 1.38 billion shares worth 1.02 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 229 to 210, while 493 stocks closed unchanged.

Midas Holdings closed flat at 33 Singapore cents. It announced that it has won a 58.3 million U.S. dollars contract to supply aluminum alloy extrusion profiles and fabricated parts for a rail project in the United States. With delivery slated to take place progressively between 2015 and 2020, this contract is Midas' single largest export contract to date as well as the group's maiden rail contract in the United States.

CNA Group slumped 14.8 percent to 2.3 Singapore cents. It proposed to acquire a 30-percent stake in Jilin Mailong Xuntong Electronic Products (JME). The proposed acquisition represents a shift of emphasis of the company towards its core technology and IT networking and systems business, to generate a new recurring revenue stream in China. JME was selected due to its 10-year concession to install speed cameras in Da'an city of Jilin province. JME is confident that it can continue to expand its services to other provinces in China.

Among the top gainers, DBS rose 1.1 percent to 19.47 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Matheson shed 0.5 percent to 65.64 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.37 Singapore dollars) Endi