RTRS:Singapore Stocks-Down by midday on euro zone concerns
* Index down 1.3 percent at 0500 GMT
* UOB Kay Hian cautious on S'pore property stocks
* SGX stock down ahead of Q2 earnings
By Eveline Danubrata and Mark Tay
SINGAPORE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Singapore shares fell by midday on Monday, largely in line with regional markets, as the mass euro-zone sovereign debt rating cuts by Standard & Poor's (S&P) ver the weekend and renewed worries about Greece hurt sentiment.
At 0500 GMT, the Straits Times Index (STI) was down 1.3 percent, or 36.20 points, at 2,755.34. Some 400.7 million shares worth S$355.9 million were traded, compared with 510.3 million shares worth S$471.9 million at the same time on Friday.
"The market is down definitely due to Europe, where we saw the downgrading of quite a number of countries by S&P," said Ng Kian Teck, lead analyst at SIAS Research in Singapore.
"Going forward, the outlook is still negative. There is a danger that there will be further cuts," he added.
Rating agency S&P cut nine of the euro zone's 17 countries, including top-notch France and Austria, and said it would decide shortly whether to downgrade the euro zone's bailout fund. Worries also intensified over stalled talks on a Greek bailout.
On Monday, shares of DBS Group Holdings Ltd fell 2.9 percent, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank Ltd retreated 1.7 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Traders said there was some profit-taking following a run-up in the shares of the lenders last week. Others noted the resurgence of concerns about the euro zone, which may affect the banking sector.
Shares of Singapore Exchange Ltd, Asia's second-largest listed bourse operator, fell 1.6 percent ahead of fiscal second-quarter results that will likely show a sharp drop in net profit.
Singapore brokerage UOB Kay Hian said in a report on Monday that it remains cautious on the outlook for the cyclical office, business park and high-tech segments in the city-state.
It added that it prefers real estate investment trusts with exposure to the defensive retail and industrial logistics segments. Its top picks for retail REITS are CapitaMall Trust and Frasers Centrepoint Trust.
For residential developers, it favours CapitaLand Ltd and Wing Tai Holdings Ltd. Its top sell recommendation is City Developments Ltd. ($1 = 1.2937 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Kevin Lim)
