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Roundup: Singapore stocks end almost flat

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.01 points higher on Wednesday, as renewed concern over Euro-zone kept investors away.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Athens had a certain degree of flexibility on which reforms to implement but questioned Greece whether it can meet up Euro-zone's expectation. Greece's leader Alexis Tsipras responded by appealing for an " honest compromise" but warned he would not agree to "unconditional " demands.

Meanwhile, the HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity for Chinese small and medium enterprises, fell to a final reading of 49.6 in March from 50.7 in February.

The contraction comes on the heels of a better-than-expected official manufacturing PMI report from China's National Bureau of Statistics, with the gauge largely on Chinese state-owned enterprises rising to 50.1 compared to 49.9 in February.

The benchmark Straits Times Index inched up 0.01 points to close at 3,447.02 points. Trading volume was 1.23 billion shares worth 955 million Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 225 to 195, while 514 stocks closed unchanged.

Among top actives, Polaris Limited jumped 31.3 percent to 2.1 Singapore cents. Japan's SoftBank bought a combined 19.9 percent of the total shares issued by Indonesia's Trikomsel Oke Tbk. Polaris was the largest shareholder in Trikomsel with a 44.88 percent stake. Polaris, which sells mobile devices and electronics, is controlled by Sugiono Wiyono, president director of Trikomsel.

Cosco Corporation (Singapore) dropped 2 percent to 49.5 Singapore cents. The Chinese shipbuilder said its unit has deferred delivery of two jack-up drilling rigs by nine months, at the request of its customer. Cosco (Dalian) Shipyard will now deliver the two rigs in December 2016 and June 2017, respectively. Cosco did not identify the customer. Cosco also did not state any reason for the deferred delivery dates.

Among the top gainers, Singapore Airlines rose 1.3 percent to 12.13 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Matheson shed 0.4 percent to 62.96 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.37 Singapore dollars) Endi