singapore stocks end higher for the third consecutive session on friday 706992015

Singapore’s Straits Times Index made it three winning sessions in a row, ending a shade higher in Friday’s trading, and taking a cue from the positive overnight close on Wall Street. However, in the broad market, losers outnumbered gainers indicating a somewhat bearish undercurrent.

Noble Group Limited (SGX:N21) continued to be a drag on the index, figuring at the top of the STI decliners list, despite the company’s buyback the previous day.

Indices and sectors

The Straits Times Index (STI) ended Friday 6.18 points or 0.18 per cent higher to 3,353.85, taking the year-to-date performance to -0.34 per cent.

The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined 0.09 per cent, while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined 0.05 per cent.

The Singapore Exchange traded a volume of 1,314.9 million shares valued SG$947.8 million. Losers outnumbered gainers by 230/187.

Amongst the FTSE ST sectors, the gainers were telecommunications (+0.99 per cent), real estate investment trusts (+0.85 per cent), consumer goods (+0.60 per cent), consumer services (+0.56 per cent) and real estate (+0.47 per cent). The losing sectors were maritime (-1.83 per cent), China top index (-0.81 per cent), utilities (-0.76 per cent), industrials (-0.67 per cent) and fledgling (-0.47 per cent).

Stocks

Shares in Noble Group Limited (SGX:N21) fell 2.84 per cent to close at SG$0.685 on Friday. The company said it had bought back 25 million shares, or 0.37 per cent of its issued shares, the previous day paying SG$16.8 million, according to the Straits Times.

Raffles Education Corp Ltd (SGX:NR7) subsidiary Oriental University City Holdings said it will invest AU$5.2 million (SG$5.4 million) in shares of Axiom, an Australian property development company, ramping up its existing 14.9 per cent stake in Axiom to 19.90 per cent. The transaction is part of the company’s strategy to build its student housing business in Australia, according to the Straits Times.

CSE Global Ltd. (SGX:544) announced Friday the divestment of its 66 per cent stake in subsidiary Power Diesel Engineering to IMR Power for SG$15.47 million in cash, as reported by the Business Times. According to CSE, it achieved an IRR of about 40 per cent on its investment in Power Diesel Engineering, and the sale will allow it to focus on its process controls and communication and security businesses.

China-based provider of wireless technology products and services Longcheer Holdings Ltd (SGX:L28) said it had entered into a non-binding MOU with Pacific Star Development to acquire its 51 per cent holding in Puteri Cove Residences & Quayside for SG$120 million – SG$150 million, according to the Business Times.

Economic news

Financial markets across the globe will be on edge as the US Federal Reserve meets this week, expecting clarity from the central bank on the schedule for its interest-rate ‘lift-off.’

In a weekend development, talks between Greece and its international creditors broke down. The proposals by the beleaguered, heavily indebted country were deemed by an EU spokesman to be both inadequate and incomplete.

On Wall Street on Friday, stocks fell on news of a deadlock in the bailout negotiations between Greece and its creditors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 140 points, or 0.8 per cent, to close at 17,899. The S&P 500 index fell 15 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 2,094, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 31 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5,051.