Singapore shares close 0.3% lower on Monday

SINGAPORE share prices finished 0.26 per cent lower on Monday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) falling 7.29 points to 2,845.55 on lower trading volumes.

The blue-chip index was dragged down as Brent crude oil futures plummeted to as low as US$36.17 per barrel, their weakest level since 2004.

About 911.1 million shares worth S$626.1 million changed hands, which worked out to an average unit price of S$0.69 per share.

The most actively traded stock was engineering company Terratech, which leapt 49 per cent or 1.9 Singapore cents to S$0.058 with 70.8 million shares changing hands. Other actives included Ezra Holdings, Rex International and QT Vascular.

Though the STI slipped, smaller counters seem to have fared a bit better. In the broad market, gainers outnumbered losers 205 to 171, or about six up for every five down.

STI down 1.6% for the week ahead of FOMC meeting

THE impending Christmas holidays combined with ever-weakening oil prices and next week's US Federal Open Markets Committee meeting made for yet another forgettable week for the local stock market in which the Straits Times Index lost 45 points or 1.6 per cent at 2,834.63 - all in poor volume.

On Friday when the index drifted within a narrow band before closing 13.83 points weaker, turnover amounted to 971 million units worth S$825.2 million, the seventh consecutive session with volume below S$1 billion. Business in the STI components amounted to S$473 million, or about 57 per cent of the dollar total. Excluding warrants, there were 125 rises versus 257 falls.

There were only a few features of note, one being confirmation of the takeover of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) by France's CMA CGM at S$1.30 per share. Probably because there are still many hurdles to be overcome before the deal is complete, NOL' shares spent the whole week around the S$1.22 level, ending at S$1.225 on Friday.

SGX says "Trade with Caution" alerts to be more detailed and targeted

SINGAPORE (Dec 9): Singapore Exchange (SGX) says it will detail its concerns in "Trade with Caution" (TWC) alerts about unusual trading activities in a company's stock.

The alerts will be more targeted as they will be issued on a case-by-case basis instead of being automatically triggered by a company's "not aware" reply to a public query from SGX.

The alerts may also contain details gathered from SGX's review of trading activities.

Currently, TWC alerts are automatically generated.

SingPost Group CEO Wolfgang Baier resigns to 'pursue new endeavours'

SINGAPORE (Dec 10): Singapore Post announced that Wolfgang Baier, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), has resigned to "pursue new endeavours".

Baier, 41, will however support a handover until 30 June 2016 or earlier.

SingPost said the board is looking for a GCEO both internally and externally.

As part of the transition plan, with effect from Jan 1, Deputy Chairman Goh Yeow Tin will be appointed an Executive Director for a period of 12 months.

Goh will oversee the group's post-merger integration activities, the business and operations in Singapore.

SGX's 20 biggest IT stocks averaged 8.3% YTD returns

SINGAPORE (Dec 8): Year to date, the 20 largest SGX-listed Information Technology (IT) stocks have averaged a total return of 8.3%.

This brings their three-year returns to 48.6%, according to Singapore Exchange's My Gateway report published on Tuesday.

The 20 IT stocks, which have a combined market capitalisation of $7.5 billion, have an average dividend yield of 4.6%.