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Roundup: Singapore stocks end down 0.58 pct

Xinhua, March 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.58 percent lower on Wednesday, taking its cue from an overnight slump in U.S. equities.

Investors shunned stocks amid speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates. The strong February job data continued to hit market sentiment heavily and dragged most markets across the globe lower this week.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 19.67 points to close at 3,378.59 points. Trading volume was 1.36 billion shares worth 1.22 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 309 to 114, while 510 stocks closed unchanged.

Voyage Research said "we see the sell off as too sharp in too short a time and thinks that there may be a rebound some time this week."

Del Monte Pacific fell 3.1 percent to 31 Singapore cents. It reported a net loss of 2.2 million U.S. dollars in the third quarter on higher interest expenses related to the acquisition of Del Monte Foods, as well as earlier announced acquisition-related expenses. But it achieved 21-percent growth in sales to 637.6 million U.S. dollars, with Del Monte Foods contributing 511 million U.S. dollars.

Nam Cheong Limited closed flat at 30 Singapore cents. The Malaysia's largest OSV builder announced that it has sold two vessels worth 58 million U.S. dollars to two repeat customers. One of the vessels is a 200-men Accommodation Work Vessel which was sold to a subsidiary of Marco Polo Marine for imminent delivery in the next quarter. Another one is an Anchor Handling Towing Supply Vessel which was also sold to a repeat customer based in Dubai, Topaz Energy and Marine Limited.

Among the top gainers, Hotel properties Limited rose 2 percent to 4.15 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Matheson shed 1 percent to 64.38 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.39 Singapore dollars) Endi