Singapore stocks open flat on Monday after key exports surprise; STI down 0.04%

SINGAPORE stocks opened relatively unchanged on Monday (Mar 18) morning after data from Enterprise Singapore showed that the country’s non-oil domestic exports fell 0.1 per cent year-on-year in February, weighed down by a decrease in the non-electronics sector. 

This represented a reversal from the previous month’s 16.7 per cent expansion and missed the 4.7 per cent median growth forecast by private-sector economists. 

As at 9.01 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 1.2 points or 0.04 per cent to 3,171.76. Across the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 52 to 36 after 48.5 million securities worth S$48.4 million changed hands. 

Thai Beverage : Y92 0% was the most heavily traded counter by volume. The index counter was flat at S$0.50 after 7.4 million securities were transacted. 

Other companies that were briskly transacted included Riverstone : AP4 0%, which gained S$0.01 or 1.5 per cent to S$0.685, and Golden Agri-Resources : E5H 0%, which remained unchanged at S$0.27. 

Banking stocks were mixed in early trade. DBS : D05 0% climbed S$0.07 or 0.2 per cent to S$34.74. OCBC : O39 0% declined S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent to S$13.31, and UOB : U11 0% traded S$0.09 or 0.3 per cent down to S$28.83. 

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Over on Wall Street, stocks largely dipped on Friday, as traders await the US central bank’s interest-rate decision this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.5 per cent to 38,714.77, and the broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.7 per cent to 5,117.09. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index also retreated 1 per cent to 15,973.17. 

European shares slumped at Friday’s close following concerns that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts following higher than expected wholesale price data and consumer inflation. Strength in telecommunications stocked helped to soften the losses. 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.2 per cent lower at 504.80.