Singapore stocks edge lower ahead of key US data; STI down 0.2%

Singapore stocks ended lower on Tuesday (Dec 16), ahead of a slate of US economic data due later in the day.

The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.2 per cent, or 9.44 points, to 4,579.73. The iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index slipped 0.1 per cent, or 1.11 points, to 1,434.88.

Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 352 to 227, after 1.1 billion securities worth S$1.4 billion changed hands.

Regional markets were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.5 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.6 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.2 per cent. Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, meanwhile, rose 0.3 per cent.

Later on Tuesday, the United States is expected to release key economic indicators, including retail sales and the delayed November non-farm payrolls report.

“The key thing is the unemployment rate,” said Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets.

On the STI, City Developments Ltd led the gainers, rising 1.9 per cent or S$0.14 to close at S$7.50.

The Business Times reported on Monday that the property developer had agreed to sell its Quayside Isle @ Sentosa Cove property – a two-storey waterfront lifestyle mall – for S$97.3 million.

Singtel was the worst-performing blue-chip stock, falling 2.4 per cent or S$0.11 to S$4.56.

The three local banks ended mixed. DBS gained 0.4 per cent or S$0.20 to S$55.49, and OCBC rose 0.8 per cent or S$0.15 to S$19.44. UOB, on the other hand, edged down 0.03 per cent or S$0.01 to S$34.75.

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