Roundup: Singapore stocks end down 0.09 pct

Singapore shares closed 0.09 percent lower on Thursday, as investors were waiting for the June U.S. job data due Friday.

U.S. stocks rose overnight after the U.S. June ISM non-manufacturing index jumped to highest level since last November 2015 and well above market expectations. Adding to the upbeat sentiment was the minutes of last-month Federal Reserve policy meeting, which indicated that rate hikes will be on hold until the impact of the Brexit vote became clearer.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index inched down 2.5 points to 2,862.17 points. Trading volume was 1.63 billion shares worth 1.19 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 202 to 188, while 518 stocks did not move.

Wilmar International fell 0.9 percent to 3.28 Singapore dollars. Bunge will sell 45 percent of its equity in its Vietnam crush operations to Wilmar, creating a three-way joint venture with Bunge and Wilmar as equal shareholders and Quang Dung, a leading local soybean meal distributor, owning the balance 10 percent. The transaction brought together Bunge's crushing capabilities with Wilmar's oil refining and consumer products business.

SIIC Environment closed flat at 63.5 Singapore cents. The environmental firm announced it has spent around 45.6 million Singapore dollars to raise its stake in an unnamed Chinese firm based in Henan Province that has just begun operating, to 75 percent.

The deal will expand SIIC's ownership of sludge treatment facilities in China, in line with its broader business model and geographic focus on Chinese environmental projects.

Among the top gainers, Venture Corporation rose 1.2 percent to 8.56 Singapore dollars, whereas Jardine Strategic became one of the top losers by falling 1.1 percent to. 29.33 U.S. dollars (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.35 Singapore dollars) Endit