Singapore share prices closed little changed on Tuesday, kept in check by selective profit-taking after recent gains, dealers said. They said that with the government's new Budget due Friday unlikely to deliver any surprises, the emphasis would rest on upcoming earnings results to provide market direction. The Straits Times Index slipped 1.54 points or 0.07 percent to 2,163.39. Volume was 807 million shares worth 995 million Singapore dollars (607 million US), from 944 million shares worth 852 million Singapore dollars on Monday.
Decliners led gainers 255 to 204, with 533 stocks unchanged. "The broader market is likely to be flat in the next few days unless anything happens in Wall Street. In Singapore, the upcoming Budget is not expected to surprise and market interest will mainly be on companies releasing corporate earnings," UOB Kay Hian director Chan Tuck Sing said.
Brokerage GK Goh added in a statement that further short-term upside was likely to be limited by the 2,200 resistance level.
Blue chips were flat to lower. Singapore Telecom closed flat at 2.61 Singapore dollars and Singapore Press Holdings was unchanged at 4.50, while ST Engineering was down five cents to 2.42 and Singapore Airlines declined 20 cents to 12.50.
Banking stocks closed mixed, with United Overseas Bank shedding 20 cents to 14.30 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp dropping 10 cents to 13.80, while DBS closed 20 cents higher at 16.30.
United Test and Assembly Center Ltd (UTAC) shares were higher after the company said it had been appointed by Swiss-based BridgeCo AG as a turnkey service provider for its new generation of digital entertainment network semiconductor products.
UTAC closed up three cents to 6.85. Other technology stocks closed mostly higher. Chartered Semiconductor was up two cents to 1.04, Venture Corp rose 30 cents to 16.80 and STATS ChipPAC gained two cents to 1.01. Creative Technology was down 50 cents to 21.60.
Chuan Hup Holdings shares were lower on profit-taking after it agreed to sell its marine assets to Malaysia's Habib Corp for 570 million dollars, dealers said.
The firm was also the most actively traded stock, ending the session down 4.5 cents to 7.3 cents.
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