Singapore shares end lackluster as DBS earnings disappoint

Singapore stocks closed little changed on Monday, dragged lower by DBS Bank after city-state's largest lender reported a profit fall but gains in other regional markets kept losses in check.

sgx
SGX Logo. Reuters
SGX Logo. Reuters

Singapore stocks closed little changed on Monday, dragged lower by DBS Bank after city-state's largest lender reported a profit fall but gains in other regional markets kept losses in check.

Most Southeast Asian markets edged higher, in tandem with Wall Street which gained on Friday on healthy corporate earnings.

Wall Street was boosted by Apple Inc's shares that hit a record high, as stores opened doors to eager customers of the new iPhone X.

The Straits Times Index shed 0.01 percent or 0.46 point to 3,381. It ended 0.05 percent higher on Friday, taking the year-to-date performance to about 17 percent.

DBS Group Holdings fell 0.8 percent after its third-quarter net profit fell 23 percent on the back of increased provisioning for bad loans for the troubled oil and gas services sector.

Other lenders such as Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp lost about 1 percent and United Overseas Bank dropped 0.04 percent.

Billionaire Peter Lim backed real estate services provider Rowsley ended unchanged after it swung to a third-quarter loss, owing to a $7.9 million fair value loss.

Food and beverage maker BreadTalk Group reported a 22.2 percent jump in third-quarter profit as the group continued its focus on profitable segments while exiting underperforming businesses. However, its shares fell 0.6 percent.

Gold producer CNMC Goldmine Holdings also closed unchanged after it completed the construction of its carbonin-leach plant at its Sokor gold field in Kelantan, Malaysia.

About 2.7 billion shares worth S$1.3 billion changed hands, with losers outnumbering gainers 239 to 209.

 

 
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