Singapore shares closed down 1.65 percent on Monday, weighed by poor US economic data, dealers said. The main Straits Times Index (STI) fell 29.77 points to 1,776.25 on volume of 902 million shares worth 978 million Singapore dollars (657 million US). Losers led gainers 311 to 116 with 831 issues unchanged.
The fall is likely to be short-lived with technical charts indicating the index ready for a rebound soon, analysts said. "Judging from the recent increase in trading volume and with the moving average convergence divergence chart still portraying a slight bullish inclination, we view the pullback seen in the past few trading sessions as a healthy correction and that further gains should be forthcoming for the STI," said James Lim, a technical analyst with DMG Securities.
Bank shares were down, with DBS shedding 31 cents to 8.11, United Overseas Bank dropping 24 cents to 12.56 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp eight cents lower at 5.15. Property shares also fell, with City Developments down 14 cents to 6.06, Keppel Land closing five cents lower at 1.79 and Capitaland easing a cent to 2.90. Motor vehicle firm Jardine Cycle and Carriage was up six cents at 10.16, Singapore Telecommunications closed three cents higher at 2.55 and conglomerate Keppel Corp fell 44 cents to 4.48.