Singapore Stocks: Keppel, Singapore Exchange, Singapore Telecom

By Simeon Bennett and Chen Shiyin

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 37.31, or 1.5 percent, to 2,533.36 as of 9:21 a.m., on course for its lowest since September 2006. Just two of the benchmark gauge's 30 constituents advanced.

The following companies rose or dropped in Singapore trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Singapore banks: DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS SP), the city's biggest bank, fell 32 cents, or 1.9 percent, to S$16.70, its fifth straight day of losses. United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB SP), Singapore's No. 2 bank, declined 30 cents, or 1.6 percent, to S$18.26. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC SP), Singapore's third-largest, lost 16 cents, or 2.1 percent, to S$7.53.

Financial stocks fell across Asia after Barclays Plc and Bank of America Corp. abandoned talks to buy Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Wall Street prepared for a possible liquidation of the U.S. securities firm.

Cosco Corp. Singapore Ltd. (COS SP), the shipbuilding and repair unit of China's biggest shipping company, tumbled 14 cents, or 8.3 percent, to S$1.55, on course for its lowest since April 1999. The shares have plunged 73 percent this year, the biggest decline on the Straits Times Index. Merrill Lynch & Co. and DBS Vickers Securities last week cut their share-price estimates for the stock, citing concern about slowing orders.

Keppel Corp. (KEP SP), the world's largest builder of shallow-water oil rigs, declined 7 cents, or 0.8 percent, to S$8.57. Keppel has won the right to buy an incineration plant from the Singapore government after a bid of S$462 million ($323 million) and will set up a trust for the facility, the company said.

Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX SP), the operator of the city- state's securities and derivatives markets, slumped 15 cents, or 2.5 percent, to S$5.97, sliding to the lowest in more than a week. Citigroup Inc. cut its share-price estimate by 27 percent to S$4.70 and reiterated its ``sell'' rating on the stock, saying a looming recession will weigh on turnover.

Singapore Petroleum Co. (SPC SP), the city-state's only publicly traded refiner and explorer, fell 8 cents, or 1.8 percent, to S$4.47, set for its lowest since March 2007. The company cut fuel prices at its service stations by 5 Singapore cents per liter, it said in a Sept. 12 statement after the close of trading.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST SP), Southeast Asia's largest phone company, fell 7 cents, or 2.1 percent, to S$3.29, retreating for the fourth time in five days. The company will review a decision of the Indonesian Supreme Court to uphold a ruling that Temasek Holdings Pte breached the nation's anti- monopoly laws before deciding its course of action, Singapore Telecommunications said.

The court upheld a ruling Sept. 12 by the competition regulator, which said Temasek breached antitrust laws by using indirect stakes in PT Telekomunikasi Selular, known as Telkomsel, and PT Indosat to fix prices.

To contact the reporters on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net; Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net.