SINGAPORE shares retreated in early Thursday trade on the back of losses on Wall Street and soft US economic data. The Straits Times Index dipped 0.31 per cent, or 10.64 points, to 3,408.38 as at 9.02am, wiping out Wednesday's feeble gain.
Among the most active counters were Ascendas Reit, which slid three Singapore cents to S$2.51 as at 9.03am, while Yuuzoo opened one cent higher at S$0.30. A total of 61.6 million shares worth S$109.5 million had changed hands as at 9.02am. Losers outnumbered gainers 83 to 44.
The Straits Times Index (STI) ended +5.76 points higher or +0.17% to 3419.02, taking the year-to-date performance to +1.60%.
The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index gained +0.38% while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index gained +0.48%. The top active stocks were SingTel (+0.70%), UOB (+0.61%), DBS (-0.05%), Keppel Corp (+1.13%) and OCBC Bank (+0.29%).
The outperforming sectors today were represented by the FTSE ST Utilities Index (+3.48%). The two biggest stocks of the FTSE ST Utilities Index are United Envirotech (+0.31%) and Hyflux (+1.14%). The underperforming sector was the FTSE ST Real Estate Holding and Development Index, which declined -0.33% with Hongkong Land Holdings’ share price declining -0.94% and Global Logistic Properties’ share price gaining +0.78%.
The three most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by value today were the SPDR Gold Shares (+0.05%), iShares S&P500 Ivv (-0.90%), IS MSCI India (-1.14%).
The three most active Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by value were CapitaMall Trust (-0.46%), Ascendas REIT (-0.78%), Keppel REIT (-0.42%).
The most active index warrants by value today were HSI24400MBeCW150429 (+8.94%), HSI25000MBeCW150429 (+8.86%), HSI24800MBeCW150528 (+8.33%).
The most active stock warrants by value today were DBS MB eCW150915 (+1.20%), UOB MB eCW150701 (+4.51%), KepCorp MBeCW150901 (+6.67%).
As March 31 draws nearer, thoughts among traders must inevitably be turning to whether the Straits Times Index will enjoy a quarter-ending window-dressing push and if so, which stocks might be employed.
These thoughts are understandable given that at the end of Wednesday's session in which the STI rose 5.76 points to 3,419.02, the year-to-date performance stands at just 1.6 per cent, feeble by most standard given zero interest rates and a supposedly recovering US economy. Still, the rise in the index came in tandem with a rise in Hong Kong and the US futures market, so traders were clearly betting on Wall Street rebounding on Wednesday from its Tuesday drop.
Turnover was a concern throughout 2014 and although it picked up slightly in January and February this year, it still remains a worry. On Wednesday, 1.24 billion units worth S$950.6 million were traded, below the S$1-1.2 billion daily average of recent weeks. Excluding warrants, there were 240 rises versus 167 falls.