SINGAPORE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Singapore shares closed 0.1 percent higher on Friday, as investors awaited U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.
But sentiment in the market remained cautious after U.S. stocks fell overnight on the eve of Trump's inauguration amid investors' anxiety on whether the new administration will follow through on pro-growth campaign promises.
Investors also noted comments from investment guru George Soros that the euphoria among stock investors since Trump's victory will end as uncertainty takes over.
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index inched up 2.86 points to 3,011.08 points. Trading volume was 2.39 billion shares worth 916 million Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 218 to 182, while 694 stocks did not move.
CapitaLand Mall Trust rose 0.8 percent to 1.985 Singapore dollars. It announced a fourth-quarter distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.88 Singapore cents, no change from a year ago. This translates into an annualized yield of 5.82 percent based on the last closing price.
Its distributable income for the fourth quarter went up 0.2 percent to 102.07 million Singapore dollars from the preceding year. But its gross revenue slid 6.1 percent to 169.4 million Singapore dollars, while net property income also slid 7.6 percent to 116.2 million Singapore dollars from a year ago.
MM2 Asia rose 4.1 percent to 51 Singapore cents. It announced that Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Melvin Ang has sold 10 million vendor shares to Timothy Mou En-Kuang at the price of 48.5 Singapore cents per share. Following the transaction, Mou and Ang now respectively own a 0.95 percent and 44.27 percent stake in MM2 Asia.
Mou is the manager of Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing, and the CEO of Wuxi Ai-mei-shen Film and TV Cultural, and the CEO of a joint venture between Wuxi Ai-mei-shen and Zhejiang Talent Film and TV which produces the drama series "Ying Tian Xia." Fan is the lead actress and executive producer of the drama.
Among top gainers, Great Eastern Holdings rose 1 percent to 20.60 Singapore dollars, whereas Jardine Matheson fell 0.4 percent to 59.30 U.S. dollars. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.43 Singapore dollars)
