Roundup: Singapore stocks end down 0.35 pct

Singapore shares closed 0.35 percent lower on Wednesday as investors waited for more corporate earnings announcements.

U.S. stocks were mixed overnight on uninspiring earnings reports. Most investors remained cautious amid worries that cash- strapped Greece may default on its debt. Aware of the market concerns, Euro-zone finance ministers moved away from fixing a deadline for Athens to come up with fiscal reforms.

The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 12.37 points to close at 3,496.24 points. Trading volume was 1.79 billion shares worth 1.18 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 287 to 200, while 444 stocks closed unchanged.

Voyage Research said traders might have chosen to stay on the sidelines given the lack of any major U.S. economic data and also reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week.

The Straits Trading Company last closed at 2.87 Singapore dollars on April 20, with no trading on Wednesday. Its real estate investment arm has set up a new subsidiary, SRE Capital, to form and manage funds invested in real estate investment trusts, asset- backed trusts and corporate securities in the real estate and infrastructure sectors in the Asia-Pacific.

SembCorp Marine inched down 0.3 percent to 3.09 Singapore dollars. It announced it had secured a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) conversion contract worth 56 million Singapore dollars from Teekay for the Gina Krog Field in the North Sea. Its year-to-date order flow has been slow, and this is the first firm contract for SembCorp Marine this year.

Among the top gainers, Singapore Exchange Limited rose 2.7 percent to 8.52 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage dropped 1.1 percent to 42.20 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.34 Singapore dolla