Singapore shares fell by midday, with weak data from the
United States highlighting concerns that the economic recovery
could be hitting a soft patch.
The Straits Times Index was down 0.3 percent at
3,311.30, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan slid 0.6 percent.
U.S. companies hired at the weakest pace in five months in
March as recent strong demand for construction jobs evaporated,
while growth in the vast services sector slowed, the ADP
National Employment Report said on Wednesday.
The decline in the Singapore market was broad-based and
banks were among the biggest losers on Thursday.
Shares of United Overseas Bank Ltd fell as much as
1.7 percent to S$20.42, while DBS Group Holdings Ltd
slid 0.6 percent to S$15.90. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp
lost as much as 0.6 percent to S$10.61.
However, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel)
, Southeast Asia’s largest telecom operator, rose as
much as 1.7 percent to a near 3-week high of S$3.63. SingTel is
the most actively traded stock by value in the market with about
14 million shares were traded.
DBS Vickers said it is neutral on Singapore
telecommunication companies as yields are not attractive on a
regional basis. The brokerage has a ‘hold’ rating on SingTel and
Starhub Ltd with target price of S$3.40 and S$4.30,
respectively.
“We question SingTel’s foray into a highly competitive space
with long breakeven time and razor thin margins,” DBS said,
citing the company’s venture into the mobile advertising space.
1154 (0354 GMT)
(teo.jionchun@thomsonreuters.com)(+6564035659)(Reuters
Messaging: teo.jionchun.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index falls after weak US data
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