Singapore stocks: STI resumes Friday afternoon at 3,155.14, down 0.12% on day

SINGAPORE stocks slipped as trading resumed on Friday afternoon, with the Straits Times Index edging down 0.12 per cent or 3.66 points on the day to 3,155.14 as at 1.04pm.

Losers outnumbered gainers 139 to 117, after 325.2 million securities worth S$376.5 million changed hands.

Among the most actively traded securities, Thai Bev was down one Singapore cent or 1.1 per cent to S$0.895 after 24.3 million shares changed hands.

TEE International was down S$0.002 or 4.3 per cent to S$0.045 after 17.2 million shares were traded, while Keppel DC Reit and Reenova Investment also saw heavy trading.

The three local banks were a mixed bag, with DBS up S$0.11 or 0.4 per cent to S$25.11, UOB flat at S$25.70 and OCBC down S$0.03 or 0.3 per cent to S$10.88.

In the rest of Asia, markets edged up on Friday as investors turn their attention to the China-US trade talks, while keeping an eye on the Gulf region after last week's air strikes on Saudi oil facilities fanned geopolitical tensions.

With a delegation from China in the US to prepare for higher-level negotiations next month, there are hopes the economic powerhouses can find a solution to their tariffs row that has dragged on the global economy for a year.

In early trade Hong Kong rose 0.3 per cent after a four-day selloff, Shanghai also added 0.3 per cent and Tokyo went into the break 0.4 per cent higher.

Sydney gained 0.7 per cent as investors grow optimistic the Australian central bank will cut interest rates again at its next policy meeting, while Wellington put on 0.4 per cent. Seoul and Taipei added 0.2 per cent.