Singapore share prices closed 0.43 percent lower on Friday on profit taking after a record-breaking run, dealers said. They said the market was ripe for profit taking after a series of record-busting runs since last week.
The Straits Times Index fell 11.71 points to 2,729.98, after hitting a new intra-day all-time peak of 2,754.33, on volume of 1.86 billion shares worth 1.52 billion Singapore dollars (974 million US).
Gainers outdid losers 319 to 297 with 678 shares unchanged. "The valuation now is not particularly cheap and prospects for good corporate earnings are largely now reflected in prices, so there's not much room for further upside unless the fundamentals improve," UOB Kay Hian dealing director Chan Tuck Sing said.
Weighing the index down, United Overseas Bank slipped 0.20 to 18.20, Oversea-Chinese Bankng Corporation lost 0.05 to 7.05 and DBS Group Holdings slumped 0.30 to 21.20 on profit-taking.
DBS Group on Friday said its third quarter to September net profit rose 32 percent to 552 million dollars from a year ago, buoyed by a robust interest income and fees. Some property stocks also succumbed to profit-taking, with Keppel Land down 0.10 at 5.45 and City Developments falling 0.20 at 10.90. CapitaLand, however, gained 0.05 to 5.40. Technology stocks were mixed, with Chartered Semiconductor down 0.02 at 1.20 and United Test Assembly Center down 0.025 at 0.745. STATS ChipPAC added 0.01 to 0.99.
Gains in some key stocks helped cushion the index's fall. Among them, Singapore Telecommunications rose 0.02 to 2.64, ST Engineering advanced 0.02 to 2.96 and Singapore Airlines gained 0.20 to 15.60 ahead of its second quarter results after the market close.
Keppel Corp climbed 0.20 to 16.00 after reporting that its third-quarter net profit jumped 45.1 percent year-on-year, beating analyst estimates. Cosco Corp (Singapore) was up 0.01 at 1.92 while SembCorp Marine lost 0.06 to 3.42.