Singapore shares slump

Singapore share prices closed 1.57 percent lower on Thursday as investors took profits following the sell-off in US markets overnight on concerns interest rates are set to rise further, dealers said. The Straits Times Index fell 36.42 points to 2,289.47.
Volume traded totalled 1.3 billion shares worth 1.2 billion Singapore dollars (710 million US), up from 1.21 billion shares valued at 1.09 billion dollars on Wednesday.
There were 120 rising issues, 478 losers and 493 issues were even.
"There is profit-taking on stocks that have moved up," said UOB Kay Hian dealing director Chan Tuck Sing.
A technical analyst from a local brokerage said the local market "corrected in line with regional markets."
"We think that traders should be prudent and lock-in any gains or place protective stops," said the analyst who is predicting further declines in the market.
The property sector, which had seen renewed interest recently amid signs of a pick-up by home buyers, was among the losers Thursday.
Keppel Land fell six cents to 3.94 after touching closing at a 52-week high of four dollars on Wednesday. CapitaLand dropped four cents to 3.24, City Developments eased 45 cents to 9.10 and Wing Tai slipped four cents to 1.46.
"Our view is that the recent stellar performances of the property counters appear to be breaching overbought levels," DBS Vickers Securities said in a note to clients.
"We will not be surprised if the property sector pulls back in the near term as many of the stocks are currently trading at a premium to their revised net asset value," the brokerage said.
Among blue chips, ST Engineering lost seven cents to 2.52, Singapore Telecommunications dipped one cent to 2.44, Singapore Press Holdings fell six cents to 4.64 and Singapore Airlines shed 20 cents to 11.30.
In the technology sector, Chartered Semiconductor slipped three cents to 1.12, Venture dropped 10 cents to 13.80 and STATS ChipPac fell two cents to 1.02.
For the banks, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp lost 10 cents to 6.25, United Overseas Bank fell 20 cents to 14 dollars and DBS eased 20 cents to 15.80.