STI slips 0.2% to 3,078.95 at closing

Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.2% to 3,078.95 at the close, having swung between gains and losses at least 15 times. Four stocks fell for every three that rose in the gauge of 30 companies.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 14.2 times estimated earnings, compared with about 15.6 times at the end of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The following shares were among the most active in the market. 
Developers: Shares of the biggest developers in the city- state declined on concern the government may introduce additional measures to curb property demand as home prices continued to rise in the second quarter even as sales dropped the most in six months in June. “We believe more ‘blunt’ demand-side measures are possible if prices do not moderate,” Paul Lian and June Zhu, analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., wrote in a note to clients date July 15.

 

CapitaLand (CAPL SP), Southeast Asia’s biggest developer, fell 0.7% to $2.90. City Developments (CIT SP), the city’s second-largest homebuilder, dropped 2.8% to $10.19. Wing Tai Holdings (WINGT SP) lost 0.3% to $1.455.

 

SATS (SATS SP), the ground-handling services provider partly owned by Temasek Holdings, slipped 1.5% to $2.61. Citigroup Inc. initiated coverage of the stock with a “sell” rating and a share-price forecast of $2.15, saying profit margins will come under pressure as Singapore allows more competitors at Changi Airport.

 

Sembcorp Industries (SCI SP), a Singapore-based industrial group that gets about 56% of revenue from utilities, added 0.4% to $4.95. The company said its joint venture with Oman Investment Corp. completed the first phase of a water desalination facility and power plant in Southern Oman.