Roundup: Singapore stocks end down 0.08 pct

Singapore shares closed 0.08 percent lower on Thursday, as disappointing earnings from U.S. technology giants weighed on Wall Street overnight.

Shares of Apple, the world's biggest publicly-traded company, recorded its biggest percentage drop overnight since January 2014 after the iPhone maker's revenue forecast for the fourth quarter fell below expectations. Microsoft also slumped after reporting its biggest-ever quarterly loss.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index dropped 2.8 points to 3,356.37 points. Trading volume was 2.32 billion shares worth 1.03 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 245 to 204, while 502 stocks did not move.

Among top actives, Noble Group fell 3.1 percent to 63 Singapore cents. The Singapore-listed commodities trader announced its substantial shareholder Franklin Resources had increased its stake from almost 525 million shares with a purchase of an additional 6. 3 million.

Franklin Resources now holds 8.06 percent of Noble Group's voting shares. This came after blogger Iceberg Research said on Tuesday that it sees confidence in Noble "clearly eroding." Iceberg had earlier criticized accounting irregularities in Noble, which Noble denied.

Frasers and Neave Limited rose 1.2 percent to 2.58 Singapore dollars. It said the independent valuer has put its 55 percent stake in Myanmar Brewery at 560 million U.S. dollars, which is valued higher than it was by its joint venture partner Myanmar Economic Holdings.

Myanmar Economic Holdings had started arbitration proceedings against Fraser and Neave in 2013 in which the Myanmar firm had sought to compel Fraser and Neave to sell its 55 percent stake in the brewery.

Myanmar had valued Fraser & Neave's stake at 246 million U.S. dollars, but last year an arbitration tribunal set aside Myanmar's valuation and ordered the sale to take place at a fair value determined by an independent valuer.

Fraser and Neave's latest announcement indicated that the Singapore firm could end up getting more than originally offered.

Among top gainers, Singapore Airlines rose 0.8 percent to 11.42 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Matheson became one of the top losers by falling 0.7 percent to 56 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.37 Singapore dollars) Endi