Singapore stocks end down 0.47 %

Singapore shares closed 0.47 percent lower on Wednesday, as investors were cautious ahead of the decision made by U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting ending later Wednesday. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to finish its two-day policy meeting started Tuesday. Investors will be looking to see whether the U.S. central bank will take further steps to roll back its bond-buying program. Turkey became the spotlight in global financial markets on Wednesday following a hefty interest rate hike by its central bank which restored some confidence in emerging markets. Turkish central bank raised the overnight lending rate to 12 percent from 7.75 percent in an attempt to shore up the currency, which has weakened sharply in recent sessions. The move gave a slight boost to global sentiment, which has taken a battering in recent sessions as a sell-off in emerging markets spread to developed economies. Phillip Securities Research said "although we have a longer term bullish bias due to macro fundamentals, we recognize short term market pessimism. Traders can wait for a clearer signal before going long." CIMB Research said "critical resistance is now at 3,154 points. We would turn neutral on a move above the said level. Remain a sell for now." The benchmark Straits Times Index fell 14.48 points to close at 3,047.93 points. Trading volume soared to 1.93 billion shares worth 1.05 billion Singapore dollars. Decliners outnumbered advancers 236 to 168, while 540 stocks closed unchanged. Among top actives, Global Logistic Properties dropped 0.7 percent to 2.83 Singapore dollars. It has signed a lease agreement of approximately 46,000 square meters with Suning Commerce at GLP Park Langfang, Hebei Province, northern China. Suning is one of China's largest retailers with a strong online presence. CapitaRetail China Trust rose 1.2 percent to 1.31 Singapore dollars. It reported 4.9 percent higher revenues of 41 million Singapore dollars, and 3.4 percent higher net property income of 26 million Singapore dollars. This was largely attributable to higher revenue growth at CapitaMall Xizhimen, CapitaMall Wangjing and CapitaMall Saihan, although partially offset by the closure of Minzhong Leyuan for asset enhancement initiative works. Yoma Strategic fell 0.7 percent to 73.5 Singapore cents. It has progressed from an earlier non-binding head of agreement to a definitive agreement with The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Limited to develop a hotel on the Landmark site. Yoma estimated that its overall investment for this hotel development would be about 30 million U.S. dollars. Among the top gainers, Sarin Technologies rose 3.5 percent to 2. 08 Singapore dollars, while Jardine Cycle and Carriage became one of the top losers by falling 1 percent to 35.49 Singapore dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.28 Singapore dollars)