Singapore equities inched lower at noon on Wednesday. Other Asian bourses also traded little changed, ahead of the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s October meeting.
The Nikkei 225 and KOSPI Indices climbed around 0.6% and 0.08% respectively, while the Hang Seng Index added about 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Composite Indices rose around 0.17% and 0.21% respectively.
By 12.14pm, the Straits Times Index declined 0.83% to 2,892.49. Market breadth was negative. Excluding warrants, decliners outnumber gainers 188 to 105.
The Straits Times Index traded between 2,888.06 and 2,909.45, after opening 0.39% lower at 2,905.50.
A total of 473.7 million shares worth $503.2 million changed hands, giving an average price of about $1.06 per share for the entire market.
SIIC Environment Holdings, YuuZoo Corporation, Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments, Neptune Orient Lines, and Spackman Entertainment Group were among the most actively traded counters.
Among STI components, Ascendas REIT climbed 0.9% to $2.26, while CapitaLand rose 0.7% to $3.08. Meanwhile, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding slipped 2.6% to $1.115, while Sembcorp Marine shed 2.2% to $2.20.
SIIC Environment Holdings fell 6.5% to 78.5 cents. The water treatment and environmental protection company on Friday reported that earnings rose 33.4% y-o-y to RMB 89.3 million.
Sembcorp Marine shed 2.2% to $2.20, after its unit PPL Shipyard disagrees with the allegations in the announcement made by Marco Polo Marine in respect of the termination of a rig construction contract. PPL regards this as a repudiatory breach of the contract, and will terminate the contract and claim amounts due under the contract.
Neptune Orient Lines climbed 1.3% to $1.135, buoyed by news of a potential acquisition of the container shipping company by CMA-CGM or AP Moeller-Maersk. NOL has said that there is no assurance that any such discussion will result in any definitive agreement, transaction, or offer.
YuuZoo Corporation slipped 2.2% to 22.5 cents. The social networking company last week posted earnings of US$4 million for 3Q2015, reversing from a loss of US$42.8 million in 4Q2015.
Spackman Entertainment Group climbed 4.7% to 13.3 cents. The entertainment production group on Monday announced that its mystery-drama movie, The Priests, registered over three and a half million in ticket admissions. This sets another Korean box office record for the month of November. For 3Q2015, the group posted a narrower loss of US$1.04 million.

Companies that went ex-dividend/ distribution on Wednesday include OUE Hospitality Trust, SATS, and Silverlake Axis.

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