Singapore shares closed little changed on Thursday with gains limited by profit-taking in bank and property stocks which had rallied after the government announced a relaxation of financing rules for buying homes, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index was up 1.88 points at 2,311.14, on volume of 957.52 million shares valued at 1.28 billion Singapore dollars (757 million US), down from 1.46 billion shares worth 2.24 billion Singapore dollars on Wednesday.
Losers narrowly edged out gainers 259 to 256 with 729 stocks unchanged.
Banks and property firms had recorded solid gains in the past two days after the government announced Tuesday it was easing home mortgage financing rules.
Under the proposed changes, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will allow banks to finance up to 90 percent of the cost of purchasing private residential properties, up from the previous financing limit of 80 percent.
Some restrictions on foreigners buying apartments were also eased.
Dealers noted that buying interest in Singapore Telecommunications and Chartered Semiconductor, which will announce its second-quarter results on Friday, helped keep the main index in positive territory.
They expect the market to continue the recent uptrend, unless corporate results from blue chips fall below expectations which could dampen sentiment.
DBS, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, finished 20 cents lower at 15.70. United Overseas Bank was unchanged at 14.80, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp shed 20 cents to 12.30.
Property firm Wing Tai fell two cents to 1.19, while CapitaLand eased five cents to 2.70.
But other property issues continued to rise. Allgreen gained three cents to 1.27 and Keppel Land jumped 16 cents to 3.12.
Among blue chips, index-heavyweight SingTel rose two cents to 2.75 while Singapore Airlines was unchanged at 11.80.
Chartered Semiconductor added three cents to 1.43 ahead of its second quarter results. The company had said it expects a net loss for the quarter to be at the lower end of its previous guidance.
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