Singapore shares closed 4.14 percent lower on Thursday as investor confidence plunged over fears of a global recession, dealers said. The main Straits Times Index tumbled 75.46 points to 1,745.67. Volume totalled 1.17 billion shares worth 1.22 billion Singapore dollars (818 million US) and there were 149 winners, 341 losers while 847 issues were even.
With Singapore already in a technical recession, investors fear the worst for local companies if the global economy is stuck in a prolonged downturn, dealers said. "The issue is we are looking at zero growth next year with no real pick up probably until 2011 and the market only looks 6-9 months ahead," a foreign house strategist told Dow Jones Newswires.
For the blue chips, Singapore Airlines slumped 56 cents to 11.74, Singapore Telecommunications was off 19 cents to 2.28 and Neptune Orient Lines lost 13 cents to 1.16. Among property stocks, CapitaLand was steady at 2.77, City Developments gained six cents to 6.56 and Keppel Land dropped 12 cents to 1.68. DBS Group was off 62 cents to 10.98, United Overseas Bank eased 72 cents to 13.80 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp surrendered 41 cents to 5.49.