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Roundup: Singapore stocks end down 0.3 pct

Xinhua, May 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Singapore shares closed 0.3 percent lower on Wednesday, as investors remained reluctant to buy stocks even after U.S. markets rose overnight.

U.S. oil prices rose almost 3 percent to 44.66 U.S. dollars per barrel overnight on expectations that supply outages from Canada to Nigeria would help alleviate a global glut of crude. U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, helped by oil prices which drove major U.S. stock markets to their biggest gains since March.

But comments by a top U.S. Federal Reserve official reminded investors of the possibility of interest rate hikes sometime this year, which kept investors on cautious mode. New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said that it was reasonable to expect the U.S. central bank would raise interest rates twice in 2016.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index fell 8.28 points to 2,732.87 points. Trading volume was 1.01 billion shares worth 1.10 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 203 to 182, while 528 stocks did not move. SIA Engineering inched up 0.3 percent to 3.80 Singapore dollars. The maintenance arm of Singapore Airlines reported a flat fiscal fourth-quarter net profit as a rise in revenue was offset by lower profits at its associates and engine repair business. Its net profit in the January-to-March quarter was 41.4 million Singapore dollars, unchanged from the same period of last year. Its revenue rose 6.6 percent on-year to 294.2 million Singapore dollars.

Wilmar International fell 3.5 percent to 3.29 Singapore dollars. It reported first-quarter earnings rose 3.2 percent to 239.4 million U.S. dollars from 232 million U.S. dollars a year ago. The stronger earning was supported by the steady performance from tropical oils and oilseeds and grains, and an improved showing from sugar business. But its quarterly revenue declined 4.3 percent to 9 billion U.S. dollars due to lower commodity prices.

Among the top gainers, Singapore Airlines rose 2.7 percent to 11.65 Singapore dollars, whereas Jardine Matheson became one of the top losers by falling 3.1 percent to 53.30 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.37 Singapore dollars) Endit