Singapore shares closed 0.69 percent lower on Thursday after a decline in US stocks set the stage for a retreat in most Asian bourses, dealers said. The blue chip Straits Times Index fell 18.51 points to 2,667.43 on volume of 2.61 billion shares worth 1.98 billion Singapore dollars (1.40 billion US). Declining stocks outnumbered risers 343 to 184, with 791 unchanged.
"It's a reaction to the profit-taking in the US last night, which has hit sentiment here," said Westcomb research head Goh Mou Lih. US stocks tumbled Wednesday as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve announcement that it would maintain its stimulus effort to support a fragile economic recovery.
The Fed, ending a two-day policy meeting, acknowledged in a statement that the US economy is emerging from prolonged recession but maintained its near-zero interest rate and trillion-plus dollar effort to support the recovery. Among the banks, DBS fell 18 cents to 12.96 dollars, United Overseas Bank eased eight cents to 16.64 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp tumbled 14 cents to 7.76.
Property shares were mixed, with CapitaLand gaining two cents to 3.70 but Keppel Land lost three cents to 2.65 and City Developments ended eight cents lower at 10.20. Singapore Airlines was down 20 cents to 13.38 and Singapore Telecom closed one cent lower at 3.16.
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