Singapore shares dragged by Singtel, Seatrium declines; STI down 1.1%

Local stocks fell for the fifth straight session on Thursday (Jul 31) amid heavy selling in index heavyweights Singtel and Seatrium.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) lost 1.1 per cent or 45.64 points to end at 4,173.77. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 388 to 204, with around 1.6 billion securities worth S$1.9 billion transacted.

Seatrium was the biggest decliner on the STI, slumping 5.4 per cent or S$0.13 to S$2.27, with nearly 42 million shares having changed hands.

Investors ignored the offshore and marine specialist’s strong first-half results posted earlier in the day, as sentiment remained dented by news that it would pay more than S$240 million in fines to Brazilian and Singaporean authorities to settle corruption offences.

Singtel was another notable decliner, dropping 3 per cent or S$0.12 to end at S$3.88, after trading in the company’s shares went ex-dividend. Around 17 million shares were transacted.

The telco’s final dividend of S$0.10 a share for the financial year ended Mar 31 will be paid out on Aug 19, with Jul 31 as the final ex-dividend date.

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Keppel, meanwhile, was among the top blue-chip gainer. It rose 3.5 per cent or S$0.29 to S$8.47, after the asset manager posted a 24.2 per cent increase in net profit to S$377.7 million for the first half ended Jun 30.

The trio of local banks closed lower. DBS shed 0.7 per cent or S$0.35 to end at S$47.91, OCBC fell 1 per cent or S$0.17 to S$16.87 and UOB was down 0.9 per cent or S$0.33 at S$36.19.

Across the broader Asia region, most markets were down while the US dollar held most of its gains after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.

Greater China equities led the declines, with the mainland’s blue-chip CSI 300 index falling the most, by 1.8 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended 1.6 per cent lower, while South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.3 per cent.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 snapped a four-session losing streak to advance 1 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex also closed higher, rising 0.3 per cent.