SINGAPORE: Singapore shares were largely unchanged by midday, with United Overseas Bank Ltd weighing on the broader market after reporting poorer-than-expected earnings.
UOB shares fell as much as 3.2 percent, the biggest intra-day drop since November, after the bank's fourth quarter net dropped 21 percent.
By 0507 GMT on Friday, the Straits Times Index (STI) was up 0.1 percent, or 3.24 points, at 2971.58. Around 787.2 million shares worth S$681.4 million were traded, compared with 1.3 billion shares worth S$1.2 billion that changed hands by the same time on Thursday.
Asian markers were also little changed as improved market sentiment from positive US data was offset by concerns of oil prices and the fragile euro zone economy.
"The upside [for US data] is low while the downside with Europe and China is high at the moment, so that is what is weighing on the Singapore market," said IG Market's head analyst Justin Harper.
"We are back to reality the global economy has not really moved on that much. It is moving in the right direction but it is a very slow process," Harper said.
Among other losers, shares of COSCO Corp Singapore Ltd fell as much as 5.3 percent to a three-week low after the Singapore-listed Chinese shipbuilder reported a 44 percent drop in full-year net profit and analysts forecast a challenging outlook.
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