STI Stocks Down amid US Federal Reserve Stimulus

Singapore shares fell slightly, largely in line with regional bourses, as traders sold some stocks that had run up on the back of the U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus.

The Straits Times Index was down 0.2 percent at 3,072.06, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4 percent.

Shares of commodities trader Noble Group Ltd fell as much as 1.8 percent, while palm oil firm Wilmar International Ltd lost 1.5 percent.

"(The Federal Reserve's) QE3 is lifting sentiments but will not result in a sustained bull market when macro fundamentals are still trending down. Value hunting remains a winning strategy," CIMB Research said in a report.

The third quantitative easing by the Fed is not a major game changer as euro zone debt concerns are unlikely to recede into the background, valuations are not cheap -- unlike during the first easing -- and there are no strong signs of a pickup in macro fundamentals, CIMB said.

CIMB screened for stocks with cheap price-to-book value, rising return on equity and solid fundamentals. Its top picks include Noble, CapitaLand Ltd and ASL Marine Holdings Ltd.