Singapore stocks listless amid lack of cues

Singapore stocks were little changed on Wednesday, as gains in lenders like OCBC Bank were offset by a decline in real estate investment trusts such as CapitaLand Mall.

SGX
SGX Logo. Reuters

Singapore stocks were little changed on Wednesday, as gains in lenders like OCBC Bank were offset by a decline in real estate investment trusts such as CapitaLand Mall.

Southeast Asian stock markets were largely firm as investors took heart from the Dow scaling a record closing high and as oil prices spiked overnight.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shrugged off early sluggishness and rose 0.2 percent.

At 0520 GMT, the Straits Times Index fell 0.16 percent or 5 points to 3,329. It ended 0.45 percent lower on Tuesday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 16 percent.

Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp rose 0.4 percent, United Overseas Bank gained 1 percent and DBS Group Holdings added 0.7 percent.

Mapletree Industrial Trust advanced 1 percent after it formed a joint venture with Mapletree Investments to buy a portfolio of 14 data centres located in the U.S. for US$750 million (about S$1 billion).

Shares in Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation rose 0.3 percent after its unit Keppel Logistics launched an integrated logistics brand called UrbanFox to tap the growing popularity of e-commerce.

But Frasers Centrepoint Trust dropped 1 percent despite posting a 5.5 percent in fourth-quarter distribution per unit, as higher rental income and improved occupancy at Northpoint City contributed to growth.

About 986 million shares worth S$587 million changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 215 to 151.

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