Singapore shares decline

Singapore share prices closed 0.42 percent lower on Wednesday, dragged down by concerns over the economic impact of high oil prices, dealers said.
Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) led a rise in several blue chips but the gains were insufficient to keep the benchmark index in positive territory, they said.
The Straits Times index dropped 7.95 points to close at 1,903.85 and the All-Singapore Equities index fell 3.35 points to 496.36.
Total volume traded was 700 million shares worth 903.4 million Singapore dollars (525.23 million US), up from 649.73 million shares worth 802.85 million dollars on Tuesday.
Decliners outnumbered gainers 184 to 123, with 428 stocks unchanged.
A dealer at a local brokerage said there was "no real story" on the broader market except for selected blue chips such as NOL, ST Assembly and SembCorp Industries, which were sharply higher and actively traded.
The rises were largely sparked by Temasek's surprise announcement after the close of trade on Tuesday that it would launch a bid to take-over NOL.
"For SembCorp Industries, the market is speculating that after Temasek's surprising move to launch a take-over of NOL, the Singapore Technologies (ST) group may also make a similar move to take over SembCorp Industries," he said.
NOL ended the day up 20 cents at 2.90 on top volume of 96.68 million shares, while SembCorp Industries rose eight cents to 1.35.
Other blue chips ended mostly in the red with Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) down seven cents at 2.22 ahead of the release of its first quarter to June results before the market opens on Thursday.
Singapore Airlines was down 20 cents at 10.70, while ST Engineering declined five cents to 2.10. Singapore Press Holdings rose eight cents to finish at 4.44.
Bank stocks finished largely lower, except for DBS Group which closed steady at 15.90. Overseas-China Banking Corp fell 10 cents to 12.60 and United Overseas Bank lost 10 cents to 13.70.
Selected technology stocks closed sharply higher, rebounding from recent declines, with ST Assembly up seven cents at 1.31.
Chartered Semiconductor rose two cents at 1.09, off an earlier high of 1.13, while Venture Corp fell 10 cents to 16.30. Datacraft finished up 0.5 US cents at 85 US cents.
Creative Technology, which reported during the midday trading break an expected fourth quarter to June net profit of 6.63 million US dollars, finished the day unchanged at 17.50.
Property stocks were also lower with CapitaLand falling five cents to 1.52, Keppel Land down two cents to 1.82 and City Developments shedding 15 cents to 6.10. Singapore Petroleum Company finished up 12 cents at 3.02 on the back of a sharp increase in oil prices overnight.