Singapore share prices closed 1.2 percent lower in cautious trade on Thursday as investors locked in profits from recent gains in select blue chips and property stocks, dealers said. Most investors were on the sidelines amid lingering concerns over further fallout from the US subprime credit crisis, they said.
The Straits Times Index fell 41.90 points to settle at 3,552.46, after briefly touching a high of 3,607.27 in morning trade. Volume totalled 1.91 billion shares valued at 2.50 billion Singapore dollars (1.67 billion US).
Losers beat gainers 484 to 271, with 870 shares unchanged. SIAS Research chief investment analyst Terence Wong said credit risks remained despite a move by the Federal Reserve to cut key interest rates to boost the ailing US economy.
"Investors should take a more cautious stance and there are other things people can be worried about such as the price of oil, which has taken a backseat for the last couple of months," Wong said.
Oil prices recently surged to an all-time high of 82.51 US dollars a barrel. Fraser Securities research head Najeeb Jarhom expects markets to continue to be volatile. "The Fed's 0.5 percent cut could imply that the US economy is not in good shape and that some bad news could be unveiled during the US reporting season next month," Jarhom said.
"Already, the UK's Northern Rock (bank) has fallen victim to the subprime mortgage woes and this could spread to big US lenders in coming weeks." Blue chip Singapore Telecommunications was a key drag on the index, succumbing to profit-taking. The stock tumbled 20 cents to 3.78.
Oil-price sensitive transportation stocks retreated. Shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines fell 10 cents to 5.25 and Singapore Airlines lost 20 cents to 18.60. Property heavyweights were lower. City Developments fell 10 cents to 15.80, Keppel Land eased five cents at 8.30, CapitaLand dipped 20 cents at 8.05 and Wing Tai dropped 10 cents at 3.56.
Select shipyard plays also declined. Keppel Corp fell 20 cents to 13.80 and COSCO Corp Singapore shed 20 cents to 5.20. Banks were mostly lower with United Overseas Bank slipping 20 cents to 21.10 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp down 10 cents at 8.80. Southeast Asia's biggest bank, DBS Group, was 30 cents higher at 20.40 after announcing a 400-million-Singapore dollar share buyback.