Singapore shares ended at an 11-week low on Monday as sharp losses in regional markets unnerved investors and spurred selling in banks and blue chips.
But Singapore Telecommunications rose in active trade on news that it would reap hefty gains from the sale of its stake in Belgium's top telecoms operator Belgacom.
The key Straits Times index ended down 1.47 percent, or 26.96 points, at 1,812.16 - its lowest close since January 2 - after three straight days of gains. The index's fall was in line with weakness in key Asian markets such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
"This is probably more a long overdue correction from the rally we saw last year," said Kevin Scully, managing director at independent research firm Netresearch-Asia.
"The market is in a technical phase now. If the index falls through 1,810, then you can find a strong bottom at 1,750. Anything below 1,800 you can start to accumulate," he said, adding that electronic manufacturers such as Venture Corp and banks would benefit from an expected economic recovery in Singapore.
In the broader market, losers overwhelmed gainers 301 to 56 as share turnover shrank to about 588 million shares from Friday's 739 million. Dealers blamed weak equities markets and a scarcity of fresh news for the thin market volume.
"We don't expect the market to move up anywhere in a hurry," said Timothy Wong, head of research at DBS Vickers Securities.
"Valuations will have to look more attractive and earnings prospects more certain. We need to get the first quarter numbers in and have more confidence about the rest of the year."
Among losers were Singapore's three banks, which account for close to 40 percent of the index's weighting.
DBS Group fell 2.86 percent to S$13.60 and United Overseas Bank shed 2.92 percent to S$13.30. OCBC was also down 2.52 percent at S$11.60.
Tech counters such as Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing fell 3.2 percent to S$1.49 in sympathy with its Taiwanese peer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, dealers said. Shares in the world's largest contract microchip maker slumped more than six percent on fears of a political crisis after President Chen Shui-bian's wafer-thin election victory on Saturday was challenged by his opponent, Lien Chan.
On the bright side, SingTel gained 1.3 percent to S$2.33 on brisk turnover of some 24 million shares after Southeast Asia's largest telecoms firm said it expected a net gain of S$900 million to S$950 million ($535 million to $560 million) from the sale.
SingTel, which is also Singapore's largest listed firm, said it could use the proceeds to buy back its own shares or to issue a special dividend.
Comments
Comments are closed.