Singapore's Shares Plunge Over Rising Unemployment; Sheng Siong Down 5%
Singapore shares fell on Friday, as the city-state's overall unemployment rate stood at 2% in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 1.9% in the previous quarter, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower.The Straits Times Index , a key benchmark for the Singapore Exchange, ranged between 5,365.13 and 5,406.25 throughout the day. It ended the session at 5,376.74, down 19.29 points or 0.4% compared with Thursday's close.On the corporate front, shares of Sheng Siong Group closed nearly 5% lower even as it posted SG$44.6 million in attributable profit for the third quarter, compared with SG$43.7 million a year ago.Seatrium was down nearly 1% at the close, even as it bagged a Floating Production Storage and Offloading integration contract worth over SG$200 million from floating production solutions company SBM Offshore.Meanwhile, shares of CapitaLand Ascendas REIT's closed over 1% higher as its portfolio occupancy rate rose to 90.1% in the third quarter from 89.1% a year ago.