Singapore shares closed flat on Friday after investors consolidated their positions, dealers said. The Straits Times Index closed 0.28 points higher at 2,745.31 on volume of 1.43 billion shares worth 1.36 billion Singapore dollars (873 million US). Losing issues beat decliners 337 to 298, with 676 issues unchanged.
One dealer said the relatively lacklustre performance resulted from a lack of strong leads after most companies announced their September-quarter earnings.
But with economic fundamentals still strong, another local dealer saw further upside for the market. Blue chips were mixed, with Singapore Telecommunications slipping 0.04 to 2.86, Singapore Press Holdings down 0.06 to 4.26, and ST Engineering up 0.04 at 3.04.
Among banks, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp rose 0.05 to 7.05, DBS Group Holdings was unchanged at 20.00 while United Overseas Bank fell 0.20 to 17.60. Property stocks closed flat to higher, with City Developments unchanged at 11.70, Keppel Land up 0.10 to 5.90 and CapitaLand up 0.10 to 5.85.
Most technology stocks had a bad day. Chartered Semiconductor fell 0.01 to 1.21, STATS ChipPAC dropped 0.015 to 0.975 and United Test Assembly Center declined 0.005 to 0.705.